hours, and his homes and office in the House of Commons office were searched. Green was never charged with any crime. The raid on Commons premises angered many MPs, who viewed it as infringement on the democratic prerogatives of parliament. Martin's spokesperson was asked if he had approved the Metropolitan Police searching Green's Commons office without a search warrant, and replied: "There is a process to be followed and that was followed." When Parliament reconvened a few days later, Martin read a statement to MPs, stating that "I have been told that the police did not explain, as they are required to do, that (House serjeant at arms Jill Pay) was not obliged to consent or that a warrant could have been insisted on." Martin also said that Pay had given consent for the search without consulting the clerk of the house. The Metropolitan Police questioned Martin's account of events, writing in a letter to Home Secretary Jacqui Smith that police "explained the nature of the investigation and the purpose of the search" to Pay "and were satisfied that the serjeant at arms understood that police had no power to search in the absence of a warrant and therefore could only do so with her written consent or that of the Speaker." Martin later testified that Pay had informed him of the police plans to raid a Commons office and arrest an MP, but was told that the arrest was related to terrorism. In a subsequent statement to a Commons committee investigating the incident, Martin said Pay failed to tell him that the search was being conducted on the basis of a consent form she had signed, rather than on the basis of a search warrant. Martin criticised Pay's actions and those of the Commons clerk, Malcolm Jack, related to the affair. A report on the investigation, published in 2010, criticized Martin, writing that as speaker he "failed to exercise the ultimate responsibility, which was his alone, to take control and not merely expect to be informed" and that he "should have been asking the right questions and ... should have taken more responsibility for exercising the authority of his high office." The report also criticized "failings" by multiple parties, including other Commons officials, civil servants, and the police, determining that they had made a "quite unnecessary" and "poorly executed" arrest of Green. Declaration of British Council expenses In 2009,