British minister spotted dumping official papers into trash cans at London park

British minister spotted dumping official papers into trash cans at London park

www.washingtonpost.com

A British minister has acknowledged dumping official documents in garbage cans at a London park ...

Oliver Letwin, a Cabinet Office minister who works on government strategy, was spotted discarding letters, including some related to national security.

Britain’s Daily Mirror tabloid reported that Letwin had been seen dropping documents into trash cans in St. James’s Park on five occasions, and that some of the documents related to al-Qaida and to inquiries on extraordinary rendition.

(visit the link for the full news article)

Given the number of stories in the past few years about government officials and others being photographed carrying confidential government papers or, as in this case, just dumping official documents in public bins - how realistic is it to think that such people are really involved in any significant conspiracy?



www.washingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

For a reminder of previous stories about official documents being photographed due to the way they were carried by British ministers and officials, see:

news.bbc.co.uk...

Two minsters have been left red-faced after documents taken to a Downing Street briefing were photographed and enlarged. Is it legal to do this?

Carrying a see-through file in one hand, housing minister Caroline Flint walked the usual line-up of photographers as she arrived at Number 10 to brief the Cabinet on the forecast for house prices. With widespread concern about the economy, it's no surprise that the gloomy predictions within made headlines.

The same day, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears was spotted with an e-mail print-out on the subject of the prime minister taking part in an Apprentice-style TV programme, to be called Junior PM.

Originally posted by IsaacKoi
Given the number of stories in the past few years about government officials and others being photographed carrying confidential government papers or, as in this case, just dumping official documents in public bins - how realistic is it to think that such people are really involved in any significant conspiracy?

Haha, not that realistic at all, is it? So many politicians are pretty sub-standard, quality wise and if they had to get a real job, chances are they wouldn't be much good at it. So it isn't surprising they do stupid crap like this. I know the documents weren't "sensitive", but that isn't the point. There have been cases where "sensitive" info has been let loose, or left on a laptop which is then left in a taxi or train.

Inept is a polite way of describing the best quality politicians!

reply to post by IsaacKoi


What better way to get "information" out to the people than to "plant " it into trash bins.

Even better have someone known to handle such papers do the dumping in broad daylight.

how realistic is it to think that such people are really involved in any significant conspiracy?

Very easy actually.

Normally this type of action would not have been noticed.

These documents would have been discarded in a place completely unconnected to anyone they could be traced to with no inconvenient witnesses to large scale shredding in a building that contains sensitive material.

Look at the stories from the last month about US Gov dept's coming under scrutiny for destroying documents.

If it happens outside the office there is a reduced chance of whistle blowing.

I am both ashamed and amazed that people like Oliver Letwin, Liam Fox and George Osborne are deemed fit enough to be in parliament let alone govern us and run government departments.

Omg you are joking. What a complete bunch of Incompetent people. And we are trusting them with running the country. Cameron needs to kick some butts out of his Government that is for sure.

reply to post by IsaacKoi


Just saw the BBC news reporting on this. Mr Letwin insists that the papers of which he so carelessly disposed, were not of the sensitive type which the Mirror, which originally reported this story, feared they might be. However, Letwin is now the focus of two investigations by the government.

The simple fact of the matter is that Mr Letwin is more than aware of parliamentary policy, and understands the manner in which documents, wether deemed sensitive or not, are to be gotten rid of, and furthermore that using park bins does not fall under that policy.

He damned well OUGHT to know better, since he was one of the architects of the current coallition government, being one of the deal makers who got the Liberal Democrats and the Conservative party to link up. If a person does not understand the basic way of getting rid of documents , then he has no business trying to weld two parties into one government. One could be forgiven for thinking that the fellows attitude to trash disposal explains one or two things about the horrific hybrid government he helped forge.

reply to post by TrueBrit


If this was a Employee of a Company who done this, they would have been disciplined or Sacked for it. This is complete double standards, once again. Those in the Political class do not think they should answer for their incompetence.

reply to post by AnonymousFem



I couldnt agree with your comments more. It has always been this way , between the powerful and the powerless. The powerful make rules that they themselves cannot obey (by reason of being lazy, willfull , and dishonest) and insist that the powerless abide by those rules, even though some are written to make life more difficult.

When a powerful man breaks the rules he is given excuses, and reasons are explained why the fellow should never go to court, let alone prison. But when the powerless do wrong, they are vilified almost without exception, deamonised, made devils of, and punished as harshly as the law allows.

Originally posted by Freeborn
I both ashamed and amazed that people like Oliver Letwin, Liam Fox and George Osborne are deemed fit enough to be in parliament let alone govern us and run government departments.

I know! Like I said, it seems the least successful in a private career seem to do well in Politics! But it does begger belief that people who are not really qualified in any way for running a small kebab shop are in charge of huge Departments and budgets. What compounds this is the mass of career Civil servants who are then entrusted to enact the whims of their political overlords, an equally inept and ill-aulified bunch of people that too would find it hard out in the real world of work.

Maybe a technocracy should be implemented? Have our elected representatives nominate successful, private individuals to run departments. It has to be better than the shower we have at the moment! After all, the Shadow Chancellor didn't even have a grasp of economics when he took his brief and, god forbid, should Labour get back in he will be in charge of the entire economy!!!

Maybe a technocracy should be implemented? Have our elected representatives nominate successful, private individuals to run departments. It has to be better than the shower we have at the moment!

reply to post by stumason


I was thinking along the same lines after reading Jamie Olivers piece in the Guardian

This government might be able to navigate us slowly out of a recession, but it has no clue about how to make sustainable change in the short or long term, or how to inspire, enforce or empower public health.


www.guardian.co.uk...

Got caught, IMO, doing whats known as a dead drop. Releasing national security secrets to someone. All our politicians are corrupt and dangerous.

reply to post by TheMindWar


And yet if they get their way. This sort of thing which has been caught or seen and reported by the news and the press will not happen. If the Politicians Erode the freedom off the press. They will use their powers to censor information getting out, if they bring in new regulations on the press as a whole. This is why the freedom of the press should be defended at all costs.

Originally posted by IsaacKoi

news.bbc.co.uk...

Two minsters have been left red-faced after documents taken to a Downing Street briefing were photographed and enlarged. Is it legal to do this?

Carrying a see-through file in one hand, housing minister Caroline Flint walked the usual line-up of photographers as she arrived at Number 10 to brief the Cabinet on the forecast for house prices. With widespread concern about the economy, it's no surprise that the gloomy predictions within made headlines.

The same day, Communities Secretary Hazel Blears was spotted with an e-mail print-out on the subject of the prime minister taking part in an Apprentice-style TV programme, to be called Junior PM.

edit on 14-10-2011 by IsaacKoi because: (no reason given)

Wait, what the hell. The UK is trying to recruit future PMs through a television show? That's seems democratic when future leaders have to be privileged enough to be on a TV show... not

reply to post by TheMindWar


Well, it wasn't any type of sensitive documents and it would be a pretty lame "dead drop" seeing as he got photgraphed doing it quite a few times. I think you're wishing for it to be so, when the truth is much more dull and stupid.

Originally posted by EvanB
ETA:Stu check your inbox mate

edit on 14-10-2011 by EvanB because: (no reason given)

Ah, you live!

Will do.....

did anybody go pick them up? wonder what they were about.

It's obivous to me that the drop point was the bin and someone else was meant to pick them up. If we knew the exact details of the documents then we could probably determine who they were destined for.