Why we should care about the Damien Green affair

I am struck by the number of people saying "politicians are spending too much time talking about Damien Green- how does this affect me?".

I believe it is absolutely vital for the preservation of the rights we all enjoy living in our great country that we have people standing up and being counted on this issue. This is not an issue of Party, but an issue of principle. Of course, no MP, and no office or property, should be above or outside the reach of the law- I don’t incidentally hear anyone arguing for that. But the right of MPs to question governments of all colours and bring to the attention of the public information that is the national interest which the government is suppressing because it is embarrassing needs to protected at all costs.

The information leaked from the Home Office was not compromising national security but giving the public information it had a right to have. The day we don’t have officials and MPs standing up for us all in this way is a sad day for our free society. To most people this is an open and shut case.