#Dorries: The MP Who Cried Wolf (The Letter, Part Four: A Burglary, Carter-Ruck & Me) Comments

Lorraine

Mon, 21 Nov 2011 14:09:08 +0000

Exactly, so if she said work things were in it, which would be nice. Her options if questioned on it are: i) No it didn't really happen. I lied. ii) Yes, I am completely incompetent and should be prosecuted for not reporting it. iii) There were no parliamentary documents in it, but then when I said I had a burglary I hadn't reported, I forgot there weren't any, but now I remember, there really, definitely weren't any parliamentary documents in it...I think...unless it suits me to say that there were next week. iv) Someone from the Information Commissioners Office is stalking me. I've reported him to the police and been advised to pretend I'm an idiot to throw him off the scent. I think she'd go for option iv. The thing is, if she actually got properly questioned on the majority of the stuff she says, none of it holds up to even the lightest of scrutiny. it would be lovely if that could happen

Tim_Ireland

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:25:17 +0000

Dorries has already defied the ICO, but you are right about the paperwork security issue. If it ever happened in the way Dorries described it.

Tim_Ireland

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 22:23:35 +0000

Nothing she has said about this would stand up in court, but that's not the way I'd go about dragging her there, really. For now I would like to continue to ask the questions 'Why should any of us have to put up with this?' and 'Why is this woman still an MP / endorsed by a mainstream party?'

@Lescromps

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 18:51:14 +0000

I think you,r only way of getting anywhere with this is to "Libel or Slander Dorries"Once she sues get her in court, she could be cross examined,might get some truth about the matter then,there again maybe not.

@NCCLols

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 17:30:24 +0000

Tim, why not try reporting the alleged filing cabinet incident to the Info Commissioner like Letwin was? I'm sure they would investigate and if the only result is that she is forced to claim that she made it up a) that's a win and b) the ICO has demonstrated a slightly more independent stance than John Lyons and might not accept her story so quickly? On the other hand, that would be stalking wouldn't it? ;)

Carl Eve

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:40:05 +0000

Ah, as Tim knows, the link-love reveals why. PEye reporter who link-loves Iain Dale who in turn very much link-loves Dorries. If you think Harry Cole/Paul Staines/Iain Dale/Nadine Dorries, you see a picture emerge. Effortless sources of inside info into the Government which you wouldn't want to lose. As much as I also love the Eye, it's remarkly 'establishment' in its own way. As you say NCCLols, with a character like Dorries, why does the Eye ever bother writing about other MPs... she makes Boris appear competent.

Not a lawyer

Fri, 18 Nov 2011 09:04:19 +0000

"Unfortunately, one of the few clear exemptions to DPA is legal professional privilege, which Carter-Fuck will undoubtedly cite before telling you to fuck off" This may not be quite the stumbling block you first imagine - but let's test it out. The exemptions are stated to be quote: "any document which was created with the dominant purpose of being used in current or potential litigation.....(or) which was brought into being in order to obtain legal advice from a barrister or solicitor." So attorney-client discussions are quite rightly sacrosanct. But what did Dorries say that Carter-Fuck had TOLD HER: a) Tim is "well known" b) Guildford police have dealt with a number of complaints regarding similar behaviour with others c) "He is apparently a well-known computer hacker" Now I'm sure Tim has already got (b) covered as far as a DPA to Guildford police is concerned, but you're right; any attorney-client conversations between Dorries and C-F would be exempt. But that's not relevant here - the issue is what information Carter-Fuck supposedly ALREADY HAD on Tim that they then TOLD Dorries about. How did they gather this alleged information and in what format was it held? Any such data would surely NOT then be exempt unless it had ALSO arisen from attorney-client conversations (in which case they wouldn't be in a position to pass it on, no?) Hope I've got the logic of this right...but I'm not a lawyer......

@NCCLols

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 19:38:54 +0000

I like Private Eye but it is very selective about the targets it picks. I suspect it very much depends on individual staff members' bugbears. I mean, how you can feature any other MP and not Dorries is pretty bizarre in the extreme.

Tim_Ireland

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 16:05:43 +0000

Yes, but questions of this sort only apply if we assume that (a) she is telling the truth, and (b) constituency/Parliamentary paperwork was kept in the home-based office she describes

Lorraine

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:50:09 +0000

Another bit that doesn't make sense in the unreported filing cabinet burglary: (this does assume that work stuff is in the filing cabinets and not just personal stuff - has she stated that was the case?) An MP, who has filing cabinets at home, presumably containing information about her constituency, possibly constituent's information and likely personal and confidential details, has it broken into and gone through, and it's not reported to the police? Isn't she liable under the Data Protection Act to report that?

@Unity_MoT

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:33:31 +0000

Unfortunately, one of the few clear exemptions to DPA is legal professional privilege, which Carter-Fuck will undoubtedly cite before telling you to fuck off. The only conceivable way of getting anything out of them, other than burglary, would be to pull Dorries in legal proceeding and hope that a judge decides that the info you're after is sufficiently probative to warrent a disclosure order, which is going to be a major long-shot.

Tim_Ireland

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 12:00:31 +0000

Now there's an interesting idea. I'm sure they'd make me wait the full 40 days, though. Guidance here: http://www.out-law.com/page-410

Paul Ferrari

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 11:42:59 +0000

Tim, would it not be possible to raise a Data Protection Act request to Carter-Ruck that covers any correspondence where you are mentioned ?

Tim_Ireland

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:25:18 +0000

Ian Hislop has said he is not interested in 'attacking' Nadine Dorries. When asked about it privately, he implies that her story and the associated bullshit of Iain Dale borders on the accurate.

Welshracer

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 10:06:48 +0000

I do hope Private Eye would take this up and publish this story.