British Conservative accuses Cameron in journalist’s partner arrest scandal

This video from Britain is called Greenwald‘s partner David Miranda on his detention under terror laws.

By Paddy McGuffin in Britain:

Cameron ‘approved Miranda detention’

Tuesday 20 August 2013

A former minister escalated the furore over the detention of the partner of a journalist at the centre of a whistle-blowing scandal today after accusing the government of approving the operation.

David Miranda, partner of Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald, was detained at Heathrow airport under draconian anti-terror laws as he changed planes on a journey from Berlin to his home in Brazil on Sunday.

Mr Miranda was held and interrogated for nine hours before being released without charge. Agents confiscated his laptop, memory sticks and a mobile phone.

Mr Greenwald has written a series of stories revealing the National Security Agency‘s electronic surveillance programmes, based on documents leaked by whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The newspaper also published stories about blanket electronic surveillance by Britain’s GCHQ, also based on documents from Mr Snowden.

The Home Office claimed it was not aware of the operation, despite the White House confirming it had been given a “heads up.”

But David Davis [Conservative] MP, who was Foreign Office minister under John Major, dismissed the claims and said senior figures, including the Foreign Secretary and “almost certainly the Prime Minister” would have also been in the loop.

“And what that means is that of course they didn’t direct it – no-one’s suggesting they directed it – but they approved it by implication,” he said.

“If the Home Secretary is told this is going to happen and she does not intervene, then she’s approving it.”

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper also called on Home Secretary Theresa May to say whether she or the Prime Minister had been informed about the decision.

“The Home Secretary needs to tell us whether she or the Prime Minister were informed or involved in this decision,” she said.

“Is it really possible that the American president was told what was happening but the British Prime Minister wasn’t?

“The government needs to explain who authorised the use of terrorism legislation in this case and what the justification was.”

A Downing Street source said Number 10 was “kept abreast of the operation in the usual way” but denied any political involvement in the decision.

Meanwhile lawyers for Mr Miranda have said they are to bring a legal action against the Metropolitan Police challenging the legality of his detention.

Cameron preparing more police state measures: here.

Related articles

• David Cameron had advance warning of Miranda detention, No 10 confirms (theguardian.com)
• Theresa May had advanced notice of David Miranda detention at Heathrow (theguardian.com)
• David Cameron accused of sanctioning detention of Glenn Greenwald’s partner David Miranda (telegraph.co.uk)
• David Miranda Heathrow detention: Theresa May insists police were right to stop Guardian reporter’s partner (mirror.co.uk)
• Greenwald’s partner in legal challenge over seized data (m.bbc.co.uk)
• David Miranda to challenge detention legality (walesonline.co.uk)
• British government calls journalism ‘terrorism’ (dearkitty1.wordpress.com)
• Detention of Snowden journalist’s partner an ‘abuse’ (irishtimes.com)
• You: In social media gaffe, British leader follows escort agency on Twitter (latimes.com)
• David Miranda lawyers to argue that Heathrow detention was unlawful (theguardian.com)