- A number of Home office leak enquiries failed to identify the culprit in their midst (despite him being a previous Tory candidate).
- Despite not knowing the source, the Home Office were able to qualify the leaking as especially systematic, and provide a "full list of relevant leaks, including those involving highly classified material". Since only four were published how did they list the leaks without identifying the source themselves?
- The Home Office / Cabinet Office did not intimate to police that national security was at risk (if they had, they would surely have had to apologise by now)
- The Home Office / Cabinet Office did tell police that National security could be at risk in the future (presumably if the leak wasn't stopped).
- Police agreed to take on the enquiry, without agreeing a protocol for communication. What would they have done if something affecting National Security had been found? Left it until February?
- At no point before or during the enquiry did the Home Secretary or another minister make any arrangements which would result in them not being updated for political reasons.
- That, despite there being no special arms length arrangements - at the point when the leaks were identified and their colleague arrested, the Home Office received no further updates from the police? Not even confirmation of the documents identified?
- At this point no discussion took place in the Home Office as to how the enquiry might proceed? Even with their leaker on bail?
- The Police were able to guess that they would get consent from SAA (despite having had no Government or Westminster contact in the enquiry) - and were so sure of their guess that it legally prevented them asking a magistrate for a warrant in one out of four of the search locations.
- The SAA pretended to the police that she had legal and other advice - relieving them of the burden of warning her before she gave consent - but, in the event, failed to take that advice.
One suspects that if there wasn't a competition going on for the top job the Met would have blown the story and run a mile by now as well.
Somewhere in Westminster tonight there are a number of people - many suggest a minister among them - who know enough to bring this whole House of Cards down.