Oliver Letwin caught throwing away secret papers in public bins

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/2011...15875-23487379/

(click the link for the pictures)

 

 

David Cameron's right-hand man Oliver Letwin has been caught dumping secret papers in park waste bins.

 

The PM's blundering policy adviser was seen on five separate days throwing away sensitive correspondence on terrorism, national security and constituents' private details.

 

The Cabinet Office minister disposed of more than 100 papers in the security breach in a park near No 10.

 

One revealed how intelligence chiefs "failed to get the truth" on UK involvement in controversial terrorist interrogations.

 

The scandal will be a blow to his pal Mr Cameron.

 

September 14th: Minister talking on his mobile phone before dropping emails on Tony Blair, Sir Philip Green, al-Qaeda, Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan into waste bin

 

To the passer-by he looks like a businessman simply throwing away documents that are no longer of any use.

 

But this is David Cameron’s right-hand man Oliver Letwin and the papers he is dumping in waste bins around a park are highly-sensitive dealing with national ­security and terrorism and containing the private details of constituents.

 

The millionaire buffoon appears to show little concern for data ­protection – a subject he has previously warned others to be vigilant about – as he casually disposes of memos, briefing notes, emails and letters.

 

Mr Letwin, 55, had not even ­bothered to shred the papers and made only a half-hearted attempt to rip some up before ditching them. In one astonishing scene, he even hands a bundle straight to a rubbish collector. The shocking security scandal was witnessed by the Mirror in St James’s Park, a stone’s throw from Downing Street.

 

On five separate days the Cabinet Office minister – the PM’s policy co-ordinator – dumped more than 100 papers containing private ­information. The gaffe-prone Tory’s latest blunder will be a major embarrassment to his fellow Old Etonian and close personal and political friend Mr Cameron.

 

He is one of the PM’s closest advisers and has access to the highest levels of government.

 

The documents Mr Letwin left in bins for all to see date from July 27, 2010 to September 30, 2011 and contain five Intelligence and Security Committee letters. One suggests the committee, which monitors the work of MI5 and MI6, “failed to get to the truth on UK involvement” in extraordinary rendition – the secret ­transporting of terror suspects around the world for interrogation.

 

That was sent from MP Andrew Tyrie to committee chairman Sir Malcolm Rifkind.

 

And an email delivered from Mr Letwin’s office, which he threw away on September 14, relates to al-Qaeda and its links to Pakistan.

 

Bungling Mr Letwin appears to have broken the Government’s own policy for disposing of secret papers. Its official data security advice website warns: “Don’t casually throw away documents. Destroy them, preferably by using a shredder.”

 

Organisations identified in the dumped papers include the European Commission, MoD, Home Office, NHS, Treasury and the Met Police. And among the politicians named are Mr Cameron, Deputy PM Nick Clegg, and Chancellor George Osborne.

 

We first spotted Mr Letwin publicly disposing of secret memos on September 7. This is the sequence of events:

 

7.01am: He strolls out of the back gate of Downing Street with a bundle of papers and starts scanning them as he chats on his mobile phone.

 

7.04am: His handset wedged between his ear and shoulder, he dumps the papers in a bin. They included an email about Mr Cameron’s Big Society, the Dalai Lama and human rights campaigner Aung San Suu Kyi.

September 7th: Oliver Letwin dumps papers which include emails about David Cameron's Big Society, the Dalai Lama and Burma's Aung Sun Suu Kyi (Pic: Steve Back/www.politicalpictures.co.uk)

 

September 7th: Oliver Letwin dumps papers which include emails about David Cameron's Big Society, the Dalai Lama and Burma's Aung Sun Suu Kyi

 

Sept 13, 7.43am: Mr Letwin hands five ­Intelligence and Security Committee papers to a rubbish collector who throws them in his waste bag.

September 13th: He drops five intelligence security committee letters about extraordinary rendition and 7/7 into a refuse man's bin bag (Pic: Steve Back/www.politicalpictures.co.uk)

 

September 13th: He drops five intelligence security committee letters about extraordinary rendition and 7/7 into a refuse man's bin bag

September 13th: He drops five intelligence security committee letters about extraordinary rendition and 7/7 into a refuse man's bin bag (Pic: Steve Back/www.politicalpictures.co.uk)

 

Sept 14, 6.46am: Chats on his mobile as he tries in vain to rip up papers. He gives up and drops them in a bin. The papers included emails about planning reforms, tuition fees, al-Qaeda, Libya, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Others were on the Forensic Science Service, Tony Blair and tycoon Sir Philip Green.

 

Sept 26, 7.03am: The West Dorset MP is at it again. This time briefing memos on traffic and speeding and a letter about a proposed Green ­Investment Bank from Bournemouth council are dumped.

September 26th: His detailed memos on traffic problems and letter about a planned Green Investment Bank scheme lie with Coke cans and debris (Pic: Steve Back/www.politicalpictures.co.uk)

 

September 26th: His detailed memos on traffic problems and letter about a planned Green Investment Bank scheme lie with Coke cans and debris

 

Oct 10, 7.35am: Mr Letwin returns from the Tory Conference to resume his bin routine. Among the sensitive papers he chucks are four containing ­constituents’ personal data, leaving them at risk of identity fraud.

October 10th: After the Tory conference, Mr Letwin dumps files four times on his first day back - in four bins. They include voters' personal details (Pic: Steve Back/www.politicalpictures.co.uk)

 

October 10th: After the Tory conference, Mr Letwin dumps files four times on his first day back - in four bins. They include voters' personal details

 

Some are torn in a feeble bid to destroy them. A letter from the MoD and ­documents from the Conservative Policy Forum which discussed policies on natural resources were also dumped.

 

A spokesman for the minister said last night: “Mr Letwin does some of his ­Parliamentary and constituency ­correspondence in the park before going in to work and sometimes disposes of copies of letters there.

 

“None of these are documents of a sensitive nature.”

 

Mr Letwin has previously spoken in the House of Commons of the vital importance of data security and the need to protect against identity fraud.

 

Speaking in July 2002 during an ID cards debate, then Shadow Home ­Secretary Mr Letwin said: “There is everything to fear from wrongful ­identification, or the acquisition of our identity for fraudulent purposes.”

 

Mr Letwin has a long history of ­blunders. During the 2001 general ­election he went into hiding after claiming the Tories would slash £20billion from public spending.

 

And in 2008 the ex-banker claimed £2,145 expenses to repair a leaking pipe under the tennis court at his country pile. He repaid the taxpayers’ cash.

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Oliver Letwin is not some low-level civil servant spod who accidentally left a lap-top on a train....

 

First, we have Noxy Foxy, and now this absolute cretin.... Another Old Etonian as well, along with Cameron and Johnson... Are we noticing some kind of pattern developing here....? I mean, the sort of money parents are paying out for Eton, they certainly seem to be churning out a succession of thick, entitled idiots who think they're "born to rule"....

 

But I digress.... Seriously, what the hell is going on here..? Is there anyone competent in this government at ALL...?? It seems to me that this lot are going from objectionable to dangerous... The FSB or Mossad dont even need to infitrate our civil service anymore, they can just rely on the absolute cretinous stupidity of the likes of Fox and Letwin... God help us if there's a war.... Oh, shit, there IS a war... Two of them in fact....

 

The photo of Letwin disposing of TOP SECRET documents in full view of a park refuse collector honestly looks like a scene from Spooks. Or Johnny English... It would be hilarious if it wasn't so downright worrying... Because it looks suspiciously like a "drop" to me.... Letwin should frankly be getting his collar felt by MI5 or Special Branch... Hmmm, maybe "rendering" to Guantanamo Bay...? Too harsh...?? Well, that exact thing has been done to British citizens on far less "evidence" than what's on display for all to see here... So, in the intrests of "fairness" and all that... What size of Orange jumpsuit do you require Mr Letwin...?

 

I absolutely detested Thatcher in the 80s, but this lot are worse... WAY worse... Because they're clearly so thoroughly rotten, corrupt and incompetent and they just dont take any responsibility at all for anything they do, and there seems to be no conseqences for anything they do... People like Archer and Jonathan Aitken ended up IN PRISON... No chance of any of this lot ending up there, they're coated in fukkin' Teflon, like the City Bankers... Thatch would've had a pair of cretins like Fox and Letwin for breakfast in her day, they wouldn't even get a chance to explain themselves, they'd've been out on their ear.... The one thing I can grudgingly respect Thatcher for was that she never suffered fools glady, this pathetic excuse for a Government however seems to be made up exclusively of fools, and rich, entitled fools at that, the worst kind......

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Agree completely, that woman is the Antichrist as far as I'm concerned but she'd have hung this lot out to dry. My first thought was that if this became a major story then the Tories would simply laugh it off as "well Labour did the same thing" (is that their excuse for everything?) but like you said, this isn't some low-level civil servant but the PM's right hand man...

At the very least he seems to be guilty of breaches of the Data protection Act.

 

What happened to "the greenest government ever"? Why were these papers not shredded and then recycled?

Agree completely, that woman is the Antichrist as far as I'm concerned but she'd have hung this lot out to dry. My first thought was that if this became a major story then the Tories would simply laugh it off as "well Labour did the same thing" (is that their excuse for everything?) but like you said, this isn't some low-level civil servant but the PM's right hand man...

 

Yeah, the "two wrongs make a right" argument. Always a winner.... -_- There were certainly breaches of security (particularly with regards to the notorious HMRC incident), but that was something the Tories and the Lib Dems were quick to pounce on, and it was low-level employees that were responsible for that, not Cabinet Ministers... This really is a sorry excuse for a government, and I hate them even more for actually making me feel a bit nostalgic for the days of Thatcher... -_-

If I had ever been found throwing work-related papers into a public bin, I would have expected to face disciplinary action. If civil servants who leave information lying around through carelessness can be disciplined (or even sacked), the same should apply when a Cabinet Minister does it deliberately.

 

This, of course, is the man who sent his children to private schools and said he would rather beg on the street than send them to an inner-city comprehensive. I wonder how he would have felt if teachers at those private schools had left drafts of his children's' reports in a public bin.

No 10's Official Response...

 

No 10: Oliver Letwin will stop dumping papers in park

Oliver Letwin The West Dorset MP says the papers were not of a sensitive nature

 

Downing Street says Oliver Letwin's decision to dispose of official paperwork in park bins was "clearly not sensible" and he will not do it again.

 

Mr Letwin was photographed by the Daily Mirror disposing of private letters and other papers over five days.

 

Terrorism-related correspondence was among items binned, the paper claimed.

 

The MP's office said the papers were not "sensitive" but the information commissioner will look into whether data protection laws were breached.

 

Labour have accused Mr Letwin of "cavalier" behaviour and urged Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell to look into whether the "strict procedures" for dealing with government documents had been broken.

 

Mr Letwin, who is in charge of developing government policies within the Cabinet Office, was seen in several separate images throwing paperwork in waste bins near Downing Street.

 

On one occasion the West Dorset MP was photographed handing documents to a refuse collector.

'Personal and confidential'

 

The Mirror claimed one document described how Parliament's intelligence and security committee (ISC) - which examines the work of MI5 and MI6 and GCHQ - "failed to get the truth" on Britain's involvement in extraordinary rendition.

 

 

Human rights groups say the practice of secretly transporting terrorist abroad for interrogation became commonplace after the 11 September attacks on the US but the last Labour government denied any involvement in the practice. Sir Peter Gibson is heading up an inquiry into alleged involvement in torture by UK security agencies.

 

In one letter reportedly thrown away, Sir Malcolm Rifkind - the chairman of the ISC - is urged by a fellow Tory MP to revamp the body to "bolster public confidence in its work and in Parliament's ability to hold intelligence services to account".

 

The letter's author Andrew Tyrie - chairman of the all-parliamentary committee on extraordinary rendition - notes that their correspondence is "personal and confidential".

 

The newspaper said that although Mr Letwin tore up the letter, in which Mr Tyrie also questioned the independence of the ISC from government, its contents were still legible.

'Not classified'

 

However, Sir Malcolm - a former foreign secretary - told the BBC the letter "did not amount to a row of beans in terms of secrecy" and was just correspondence between two backbenchers.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

 

It cannot be that there is one rule for ministers and another for everyone else”

 

End Quote Michael Dugher Shadow Cabinet Office minister

 

The Mirror says the discarded documents were all dated between July 2010 and September 2011 and included correspondence which touched on subjects such as al-Qaeda's links in Pakistan, the government's flagship Big Society agenda and the future of the Forensic Science Service.

 

The Mirror said it saw Mr Letwin disposing of the documents in St James's Park, which is adjacent to Downing Street and the Treasury, between 7 September and 10 October.

 

Downing Street said the Cabinet Office would look into whether any of the documents concerned were sensitive.

 

"Our understanding is that there were no classified documents," a No 10 spokeswoman said. "Most of the business which Mr Letwin does in the park is constituency-based.

 

Asked what the prime minister's view was, the spokeswoman said: "Clearly, it's not a sensible way to dispose of documents.

 

"Mr Letwin has agreed he will not dispose of documents in this way again."

Proper procedures

 

The Office of the Information Commissioner said it would be contacting Mr Letwin, The Mirror and Whitehall officials to find out what had happened and stressed it regarded breaches of data protection very seriously.

 

The Commissioner has the power to fine organisations and individuals up to £500,000 if it found anyone had suffered serious distress as a result of data protection breaches.

 

Separately, Labour have written to Sir Gus O'Donnell, head of the civil service, to ask him to investigate how many documents the cabinet minister threw out in the park and whether any of them were classified.

 

"I am sure you will agree that ministers have a duty to follow proper procedures and lead by example," Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Michael Dugher says in the letter.

 

"This has clearly not happened in the case of Mr Letwin. As you aware, civil servants are subject to disciplinary procedures if the proper processes are not adhered to. It cannot be that there is one rule for ministers and another for everyone else."

But the criticism was dismissed by Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, who wrote on the Twitter website: "How is Oliver Letwin working in the park newsworthy? Whoever in Labour has asked for (yet another) inquiry should be put to sleep."

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Oh, yes, all is okay, Letwin says he wont do it again... Jolly good.. What? What? Spiffing... -_-

I assume Letwin can be ruled out as Fox's successor.

I assume Letwin can be ruled out as Fox's successor.

 

I sincerely hope Bin-Letwin wont even be considered...... :lol:

 

Minister says binned papers were 'weighing him down'

Government minister Oliver Letwin has claimed he put private letters and other sensitive documents in park bins because they were "weighing him down".

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/8...g-him-down.html

 

Mr Letwin, the minister for Government policy and a close friend of David Cameron, said he was "embarrassed", "sincerely apologised" and pledged to stop "disposing of copies of documents and constituency correspondence in this way".

 

It also emerged that Mr Letwin's behaviour was being examined by the Information Commissioner's Office amid suggestions he may have breached the data protection laws by dumping the paperwork.

 

Mr Letwin was photographed by a tabloid newspaper on five days last month and this month in St James Park, Westminster reading letters and other documents, and then throwing them away in public litter bins.

 

In all 100 documents were thrown away during his regular early morning strolls near his office in the Cabinet Office on Whitehall.

 

Speaking in his constituency yesterday, Mr Letwin said: "I was walking around dictating responses and I did not want the paper to weigh me down. I apologise to constituents who wrote to me because on reflection I should not have disposed of them in that way.

 

"I apologise to those who were affected and I can understand their feelings. None of it was classified and none of the papers originated from the government. It is embarrassing.

 

The documents included letters from other ministers, fellow MPs, and constituents. Some documents were said to include the personal details of constituents, including home addresses and telephone numbers.

 

A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office said: "We are aware of the allegations and are making inquiries.

 

"Keeping personal data secure is a key principle of the Data Protection Act and the ICO takes any breach of that principle very seriously."

 

For serious breaches of the data protection act the information watchdog can issue fines of up to £500,000.

 

Some of the documents were ripped up but could be read easily. They included a copy of a letter from Tory MP Andrew Tyrie to Sir Malcolm Rifkind MP, chairman of the intelligence and security committee, about extraordinary rendition, the illegal transportation of suspects around the world.

 

Mr Tyrie has waged a six year campaign on rendition. Mr Letwin played role in persuading David Cameron to order an independent inquiry into Britain's alleged complicity in the rendition and torture of terrorist suspects.

 

MPs said the news of Mr Letwin's unorthodox way of disposing of correspondence was in keeping with a politician who has a reputation for gaffes.

 

One said: "He is the man who nearly set fire to Parliament when he put his cigar in a bin, who had to hide behind hedge rows during half the 2001 general election because he said something silly in 2001 and he let a burglar into his home. Unbelievable."

 

A spokesman for Mr Letwin stressed that the documents "related to constituency and Parliamentary rather than official government business, and did not contain any classified information".

 

She said: "Oliver Letwin is an incredibly hard-working constituency MP. He does some of his Parliamentary and constituency correspondence in the park before going to work in the morning and sometimes disposed of copies of letters there.

 

"Mr Letwin sincerely apologises to any concerned constituents and would like to make assurances that he will no longer dispose of copies of documents and constituency correspondence in this way."

 

A Number 10 spokesman said that the Cabinet Office was "looking into" whether any sensitive material was among the papers dumped in the park bins.

 

"Our understanding is that there were no classified documents," she said. "Most of the business which Mr Letwin does in the park is constituency-based.

 

"In the light of what has been reported, the Cabinet Office is looking into it."

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Seriously, this is Oliver Bin-Letwin's actual excuse for not dealing with sensitive documents in the appropriate way.... GET A RUCK-SACK YOU FUKK-WIT..... -_-

 

I would imagine millions of people in this country are feeling similarly "weighed down" by your piece of crap "government".... Perhaps we could stick you all in bin-bags and chuck you on the nearest land-fill site... How would that sound...?

 

 

 

 

So Letwin has had plenty of time to come up with an explanation and that's the best he can manage?

 

The number 10 spokesman is no better. They seem to be suggesting that it doesn't matter because it's "only" constituency business. Maybe I'm just weird but I'd like to think that any correspondence I have with my MP is not going to end up in a bin in the park.

So Letwin has had plenty of time to come up with an explanation and that's the best he can manage?

 

The number 10 spokesman is no better. They seem to be suggesting that it doesn't matter because it's "only" constituency business. Maybe I'm just weird but I'd like to think that any correspondence I have with my MP is not going to end up in a bin in the park.

 

Just goes to show how much respect some MPs have for their constituents really... "Hey, write to your MP, and they'll just throw your letter in the bin", they seem to forget they're public servants -_- . Anyway, we've only got their word for it that it was "only constituency business"....

Just goes to show how much respect some MPs have for their constituents really... "Hey, write to your MP, and they'll just throw your letter in the bin", they seem to forget they're public servants -_- . Anyway, we've only got their word for it that it was "only constituency business"....

Sadly the voters of Dorset West don't seem to care if their MP treats them with contempt. After the 2005 election Letwin (having won by 2,500) promptly announced he was stepping down from the front bench so he could concentrate on making money in the City. Yet, given the chance to turf him out, they voted for him again with a slightly increased majority.

 

No chance of Labour ever winning it of course. The constituency may include Tolpuddle but the Labour vote was comfortably below 10%.

Sadly the voters of Dorset West don't seem to care if their MP treats them with contempt. After the 2005 election Letwin (having won by 2,500) promptly announced he was stepping down from the front bench so he could concentrate on making money in the City. Yet, given the chance to turf him out, they voted for him again with a slightly increased majority.

 

No chance of Labour ever winning it of course. The constituency may include Tolpuddle but the Labour vote was comfortably below 10%.

 

Jesus, what a bunch of dumb inbreds..... -_- Well, I guess some people get the representation they deserve...

 

The whole story is utterly BIZARRE. Between Letwin and Fox this week I haven't felt at all VINDICATED more PERPLEXED. How can any STAUNCH TORY justify/explain/articulate upon the behavior we've seen recently? You can't even put a SPIN on it. It just comes across as some sort of mental illness.

The whole story is utterly BIZARRE. Between Letwin and Fox this week I haven't felt at all VINDICATED more PERPLEXED. How can any STAUNCH TORY justify/explain/articulate upon the behavior we've seen recently? You can't even put a SPIN on it. It just comes across as some sort of mental illness.

 

I think it's just "Arrogant Twat" disease tbh.... Remember this lot think they're "born to rule", so really, pretty much any kind of behaviour is acceptable when you have that sort of mind-set....