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Glen Jenvey arrested? Patrick Mercer: "No comment"

The following is a transcript from a telephone interview conducted recently with Patrick Mercer:

Tim Ireland: Do you have any comment on your Parliamentary Question of February 2009, made in response to evidence produced by Glen Jenvey?

Patrick Mercer: I'm afraid I have no comment.

Tim Ireland: Do you have any comment on your staff using that same Parliamentary Question as collateral when peddling an 'exclusive' story to the Times and Dennis Rice Media?

Patrick Mercer: I'm afraid I have no comment.

Tim Ireland: Do you have any comment on reports that Glen Jenvey was recently arrested, and had his computers seized?

Patrick Mercer: I'm afraid I have no comment.

Tim Ireland: Are you in any way concerned about what police might find on those computers?

Patrick Mercer: I'm afraid I have no comment.

Tim Ireland: When did you last hear from Dominic Wightman?

Patrick Mercer: I'm afraid I have no comment.

Tim Ireland: OK, thank you. This re....*

(line goes dead)

1. At present we only have Glen Jenvey's claim that he was arrested to go on, and no specifics on what charges there are (if any). But if he was arrested, it would be fair to speculate that it relates to some of what Glen Jenvey published around June/July/August of this year and how that changed in the eyes of the law when he later confessed that he wasn't really a Muslim when he published it.

2. Neither the Times nor Dennis Rice Media saw fit to run with the story referenced above (even though - gawrsh! - it was fleshed out with a genuine Parliamentary Question).

3. This transcript is 100% accurate but, personally, I think that every answer could be improved with a little punctuation:

Patrick Mercer: I'm afraid. I have no comment.

Please be careful of your phrasing if mentioning Jenvey's claims of an arrest, and please remember that the story here is Patrick Mercer being taken in by not one but two 'amateur terrors experts' (more) during his tenure as Shadow Minister for Homeland Security, and then Chairman of the House of Commons Sub-Committee on Counter-Terrorism.

Inexplicably, he still holds the latter position, and seeks to shape the government's response to extremism and terrorism, when in my view he lacks sufficient wisdom or judgement to shape their response to party games and balloon animals.

-

UPDATE (01 Jan 2010) - News of Jenvey's arrest was finally confirmed in yesterday's Guardian. Details here.

Posted by Manic on November 5, 2009 12:32 PM in the category Old Media

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