Damian Green....did He Or Didn't He ?

[mikey4444]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42151148

[RobNorth]

"inextricably mixed up with his normal use of the thing, on a minute by minute basis ? "
Mikey, this may all come down to what his normal use is or was. My impression is that these senior people and ministers have drones (researchers) who do all their clerical stuff. It's also a fact that that most senior people in commerce have similar people using their bosses computers and emails etc on their behalf. My educated guess is that if you asked Damien Green or any other Minister to fish out some facts from a database and present it as a graph they couldn't do it, or if they could it would take them all day.
Most senior people have never had the time to sit for hours at computers, indeed I've known some who never used them at all but just delegated as needed.

[andy-hughes]

RobNorth - Let's give Mr Green the benefit of the doubt and say that one of his staff is the guilty party.

Do you really think that Mr Green would take the fall for a staff member when his career and personal integrity are at stake?

Really?

[RobNorth]

Andy Hughes - unlikely, but if he let a few people have his passwords etc. then the the responsibility is his, but that isn't the same as him downloading the stuff, which he has consistently denied. I think this all occurred some time ago, which may complicate things further, staffwise. As a minister, for him to point the finger at a minion without evidence or proof would be worse than the original "offence"

[Jackdaw33]

I find RobNorth's explanation highly plausible.

[andy-hughes]

RobNorth - Having been employed by a company which issued passwords to all PC users, the rule was never to pass your password on, because any actions under your password were your responsibility.

If that went for an office drone like me, I'd like to think it went rather more for an MP who is a government minister.

I haven't followed this story in the media, but has Mr Green offered any defence / explanation for this?

Something as simple as "I am not the only person with access to my computer ..." would do the trick.

[Jackdaw33]

At the time Green was in opposition. I don't know whether that would entitle him to 'researchers'.

[andy-hughes]

Jackdaw - // I find RobNorth's explanation highly plausible. //

I find it the exact opposite.

Any MP and certainly a Minister will have a PC and use it constantly.

They will not be the only people in their department using a PC, but the notion that Mr Green has staff to read his reports, write his reports, answer and send his e-mails, and do all that on his own password-protected computer simply does not stand up.

[Baldric]

Nowhere does it say he has done anything illegal

///Neil Lewis examined the device during a 2008 inquiry into government leaks and has not spoken publicly before.///
///He said "thousands" of thumbnail images of legal pornography were on it.///
///The pornography was not "extreme", as some reports have suggested, and did not contain images of children or abuse///

And I have not seen it stated that he downloaded anything, except by certain posters on AB, only that he had viewed the Sites in the same way that we view AB>

[andy-hughes]

Baldric - // Nowhere does it say he has done anything illegal //

I don't think that is the issue.

It is not that Mr Green has been looking at legal pornography, that is the free choice of an adult in this country.

The issue is that he was doing it on an office computer during office hours, and that is unacceptable behaviour for an MP - it is as simple as that.

[Peter Pedant]

you mean if I get an email from [email protected] - it may NOT be from our very own Andy Hughes ?
I am shocked
I really am

so someone else has been accessing and using Dame's computer ?
can I say .... duh ?

as it (the porn) is all meant to be legal
Dame is under no duty to say if he knows who did it

[Jackdaw33]

How do you know it was during office hours? MPs don't keep office hours.

[andy-hughes]

Peter Pedant - Since I spell my name with a 'y' and not an 'i', only you and you alone would be confused about whether it was from me or not.

I have given up correcting you.

[andy-hughes]

jackdaw - // How do you know it was during office hours? MPs don't keep office hours. //

If you must be pedantic - let's just say he was using an official computer for purposes other than those for which he was given it - will that cover it?

[douglas9401]

Spectrum is green.

[Jackdaw33]

'If you must be pedantic'

Talk about pot and kettle!

[Baldric]

So is Kermit!

[andy-hughes]

jackdaw - // 'If you must be pedantic'

Talk about pot and kettle! //

You are quite right - your point is a valid one, and my riposte was uncalled for - my apologies.

[RobNorth]

Andy Hughes
I too was employed by firm which had rules on password security, also rules on claiming expenses.....

[andy-hughes]

Rob - // Andy Hughes
I too was employed by firm which had rules on password security, also rules on claiming expenses..... //

If I interperet correctly, you are referring to the obvious expenses frauds as an indication that MP's don't follow rules - a fair point.

However, I would suggest that Mr Green holding his hands up to issuing his password to other staff, with attendent consequences, would still be a better way to go than staying tight-lipped, and offering no defence to the accusations levelled against him - even if they are not based on illegal activities.

[naomi24]

Talbot at 17:48 Sat. yep.