Nine counter-terrorism police arrived at the Kent home of Tory shadow immigration minister Damian Green and arrested him. This decent and intelligent man was held for nine hours in a London police station, and questioned about leaked Home Office documents connected with such immigration scandals as illegals being employed as 'licensed' security guards.

This is on a day when it is emerging that Anglo-Pakistani Islamists were among those captured by Indian police in Mumbai. I have a piece in the Mail today on the attacks. You'd think the British police had more urgent tasks- regarding the involvement, yet again, of British citizens in terrorism- than poking around in the affairs of an MP whose role is to examine government policy on behalf of the public. Perhaps they could follow up stories in India Express about one of the masterminds of the 2007 Mumbai railway attacks being in Birmingham?

Senior Tories are talking about Stalinism, and comparing the arrest with the practices of Robert Mugabe. They are right. And the public should back them in finding out how high up the order to arrest Green goes. If any Home Office minister was involved- and Ken Clarke and David Davies think it likely- then this is one outrage too far.