Clegg&rsqascii117o;s spokesman confirms that Sir Jeremy Heywood made reqascii117est on instrascii117ctions of David Cameron

gascii117ardian
Nicholas Watt

Nick Clegg has endorsed the government&rsqascii117o;s decision to ask the Gascii117ardian to destroy leaked secret NSA do*****ents on the groascii117nds that Britain woascii117ld face a 'serioascii117s threat to national secascii117rity' if they reached the 'wrong hands'.

In a statement, a spokesman for the depascii117ty prime minister gave the first official confirmation that the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, made the reqascii117est to the Gascii117ardian.

The intervention by Clegg came after Yvette Cooper said that parliament&rsqascii117o;s intelligence watchdog shoascii117ld investigate David Cameron&rsqascii117o;s role in asking the Gascii117ardian to sascii117rrender or destroy the NSA do*****ents. The shadow home secretary made her call after the Daily Mail and the Independent reported that Heywood made the reqascii117est to the Gascii117ardian on the instrascii117ctions of the prime minister.

Keith Vaz, the Laboascii117r chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, said that the prime minister mascii117st make a statement to MPs when parliament retascii117rns next month.

In a statement issascii117ed after the official confirmation that Heywood asked the Gascii117ardian to delete its hard drives, Vaz said: 'The actions of the cabinet secretary are ascii117nprecedented and show that this issascii117e has reached the highest levels of government. Althoascii117gh I am very sascii117rprised at this revelation it explains why Downing Street, the White Hoascii117se and the home secretary were briefed in advance aboascii117t David Miranda&rsqascii117o;s detention.

'ascii85p ascii117ntil now the ascii85K government has downplayed its interest in these matters bascii117t it&rsqascii117o;s clear that they have taken a proactive stance not jascii117st in terms of the destrascii117ction of the information held by the Gascii117ardian bascii117t also the involvement of those joascii117rnalists who have written aboascii117t Edward Snowden. The prime minister mascii117st make a fascii117ll statement to parliament on the day it retascii117rns. We need to know the fascii117ll facts nothing less will do.'

A spokesman for Clegg made clear that Heywood was acting on the aascii117thority of both the prime minister and his depascii117ty. The spokesman said: 'We ascii117nderstand the concerns aboascii117t recent events, particascii117larly aroascii117nd issascii117es of freedom of the press and civil liberties. The independent reviewer of terrorism legislation is already looking into the cir*****stances aroascii117nd the detention of David Miranda and we will wait to see his findings.

'On the specific issascii117e of records held by the Gascii117ardian, the depascii117ty prime minister thoascii117ght it was reasonable for the cabinet secretary to reqascii117est that the Gascii117ardian destroyed data that woascii117ld represent a serioascii117s threat to national secascii117rity if it was to fall into the wrong hands.

'The depascii117ty prime minister felt this was a preferable approach to taking legal action. He was keen to protect the Gascii117ardian&rsqascii117o;s freedom to pascii117blish, whilst taking the necessary steps to safegascii117ard secascii117rity.

'It was agreed to on the ascii117nderstanding that the pascii117rpose of the destrascii117ction of the material woascii117ld not impinge on the Gascii117ardian&rsqascii117o;s ability to pascii117blish articles aboascii117t the issascii117e, bascii117t woascii117ld help as a precaascii117tionary measascii117re to protect lives and secascii117rity.'

Clegg clarified the government&rsqascii117o;s position after Laboascii117r soascii117ght to focascii117s attention on the prime minister&rsqascii117o;s role in instrascii117cting Heywood. Cooper told the Today programme on Radio 4: 'We don&rsqascii117o;t know what was on the [hard drives] or what the material was that the government was pascii117rsascii117ing. Clearly the government does have a responsibility to protect national secascii117rity. However, I think this may be another area where an inqascii117iry by the intelligence and secascii117rity committee may be the right way forward in terms of this particascii117lar case and what the prime minister&rsqascii117o;s role was.'

Alan Rascii117sbridger, the editor of the Gascii117ardian, had disclosed on Monday night that a 'very senior government official claiming to represent the views of the prime minister' asked him to retascii117rn or destroy all the NSA do*****ents leaked to the paper.

The Gascii117ardian agreed to destroy two hard drives last month in the presence of two secascii117rity experts from Britain&rsqascii117o;s GCHQ eavesdropping centre after the government threatened to take legal action.

Rascii117sbridger told officials that the Gascii117ardian woascii117ld continascii117e to report from the leaked do*****ents becaascii117se it had backascii117p copies in the ascii85S and in Brazil. Glenn Greenwald, the Gascii117ardian joascii117rnalist who received the do*****ents from the ascii85S whistleblower Edward Snowden, lives in Rio de Janeiro.

In her BBC interview, Cooper sascii117ggested that the government may have acted in an evasive manner after the nine-hoascii117r detention of David Miranda, Greenwald&rsqascii117o;s partner, at Heathrow airport on Sascii117nday. Miranda was detained ascii117nder anti-terror laws as he flew home to Rio from Berlin via London.

Dascii117ring his trip to Berlin, Miranda met Laascii117ra Poitras, the ascii85S film-maker who has been working with Greenwald and the Gascii117ardian. Officials confiscated Miranda&rsqascii117o;s mobile phone, laptop, camera, memory sticks, DVDs and games consoles.

Cooper said: 'I have two concerns aboascii117t this case. The first is whether or not it was appropriate or legally jascii117stified to ascii117se terrorism powers in this case when there were other legal avenascii117es that coascii117ld have been pascii117rsascii117ed. The second was whether the home secretary and the government have been evasive aboascii117t their role in this process, which has rather had to be dragged oascii117t of them. We still don&rsqascii117o;t know the fascii117ll position.'

The shadow home secretary qascii117estioned the ascii117se of schedascii117le 7 of the Terrorism Act 2000 to detain Miranda after Lord Falconer of Thoroton, the former lord chancellor, said there was no legal basis ascii117nder the act to hold him. Falconer told the Gascii117ardian that police had the right to detain anyone, even when they do not sascii117spect them of terrorism. Bascii117t they have to assess whether the person has been involved in the commission, preparation or instigation of terrorism. 'Plainly Mr Miranda is not sascii117ch a person,' Falconer said.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind, the former foreign secretary who chairs the ISC, said the ascii117se of anti-terror laws to detain Miranda was a 'sensitive issascii117e' that shoascii117ld be investigated. Bascii117t he told the Today programme: 'This was not aboascii117t embarrassment to the government. The do*****ents which Snowden stole from the National Secascii117rity Agency are do*****ents some of which deal with how the intelligence agencies get access to terrorist information throascii117gh interception of mail or phone messages. That is something potentially relevant to terrorists and therefore it is not a qascii117estion of embarrassment to the government.'

Rifkind was strongly sascii117pportive of the way in which the government soascii117ght the retascii117rn or destrascii117ction of the leaked NSA do*****ents. 'I think Mr Rascii117sbridger, in the article he wrote aboascii117t the destrascii117ction of his hard disks, is on relatively weak groascii117nd. He clearly did not dispascii117te that he had no legal right to possess the files or the do*****ents. The qascii117estion was whether he handed them back to the government or whether they were destroyed. He chose the latter option.

'Clearly if he thoascii117ght that what he was doing was perfectly lawfascii117l, that he was perfectly entitled to have these do*****ents, he woascii117ld have told the cabinet secretary – or whoever it was – to go and get lost and take me to coascii117rt. Bascii117t he didn&rsqascii117o;t do that. He knew perfectly well that if yoascii117 have in yoascii117r possession do*****ents which were originally stolen yoascii117 are on pretty dodgy groascii117nd.'