Tories claim police tried to entrap Shadow Minister with phone calls from Home Office mole



'Snared': MP Damian Green was the victim of an entrapment plot, Westminster sources say

The police used a Whitehall whistleblower to try to lure Conservative frontbencher Damian Green into incriminating himself, it was claimed last night.

The Mail on Sunday understands that the Shadow Immigration Minister, who was controversially arrested for allegedly leaking information embarrassing to the Government, may have been the victim of an entrapment plot.

However, the allegations were firmly denied by Scotland Yard last night.

Senior Westminster sources believe that police tried to persuade the alleged whistleblower, Home Office aide Christopher Galley, to call Mr Green.

The civil servant made contact with the MP on more than one occasion, but Mr Green declined to be drawn into conversation.

The sources say they suspect Mr Galley's calls - made soon after his own arrest 11 days ago - were being secretly monitored by the police in an attempt to gather evidence against Mr Green.

The claims come as The Mail on Sunday reveals shocking details about the affair, including:

• Mr Green was arrested in a car park - in full view of the public - near to his home in Kent.

• Mr Galley was arrested in a 5.50am dawn raid and is now being accommodated in a Home Office 'safe house' to prevent him talking to the media.

• It was alleged that police intercepted Mr Green's mobile phone messages after Mr Galley's arrest.

The disclosures raise disturbing new questions about the abuse of parliamentary privilege and the creeping growth of surveillance, adding to the existing outrage over Mr Green's arrest from MPs on all sides and prompting further questions over the conduct of the police, Home Secretary Jacqui Smith and Speaker Michael Martin.

Mr Galley - a Conservative supporter who stood as a Tory candidate in the 2004 elections for Sunderland Council - was seized at his home in a 5.50am raid on November 19.

Shortly afterwards, and, crucially, before Mr Green had been contacted by police, Mr Galley contacted the MP.

The Mail on Sunday has been told that the call may have been an attempt by police to use Mr Galley to extract more information from Mr Green, without the MP being aware of the ploy.

Mr Green declined to get involved in a conversation with Mr Galley, partly through fear that the police were bugging the conversation. Instead he advised the 26-year-old aide to obtain legal advice.

Some sources say the police may have attempted to persuade Mr Galley to give evidence against Mr Green.

Senior police sources last night confirmed that Mr Galley had called Mr Green shortly after his arrest, but firmly denied any suggestion that he had been forced to make the call.

It is also believed police may have intercepted the MP's mobile phone messages without informing him.

Laws governing the police tapping of phones are complex. Legal experts say officers need the Home Secretary's permission to intercept live messages - but not if they approach phone companies to check past messages.

A Home Office spokesman said last night: 'As the Home Secretary has made clear, she has had no involvement in any aspect of this investigation.'

Scotland Yard also denied monitoring Mr Green's messages.

The controversy has raised questions over the conduct of Speaker Michael Martin and Home Secretary Jacqui Smith

If Mr Green's communications had been intercepted it would be a breach of the so-called Wilson doctrine, named after Prime Minister Harold Wilson, who pledged that MPs' phones would never be tapped. Subsequent Prime Ministers, including Gordon Brown, have stated that the doctrine still stands.

The row took another dramatic turn last night with reports that police had claimed privately that they already had enough evidence to charge Mr Green.

Last night, Scotland Yard refused to discuss the case. An official said: 'This is an ongoing investigation and it would be inappropriate to discuss any details.'

But she added: 'We strongly refute any suggestion that any officer has acted improperly.'

Mr Galley had allegedly given Mr Green secret information about a number of Home Office scandals, many involving illegal immigrants.

Police arrested Mr Green on suspicion he had broken an obscure law which bans the 'procurement' of Whitehall secrets.

Among documents taken from Mr Green's home were bank statements, apparently in an attempt to find out if he had paid Mr Galley for information.

The MP denies offering money or any other kind of inducement.

As well as raiding Mr Green's home and Commons office, police seized his mobile phone and BlackBerry and froze his Commons email account, which was reinstated only yesterday.

The Tories insist Mr Green has done nothing wrong and that he was acting in the public interest to expose Government incompetence and cover-ups.

They have also raised questions about ministerial involvement in the arrests.

A Tory insider said: 'The more we learn about this, the more disturbing it becomes. The police treatment of Mr Green has been a disgrace and the Government's fingerprints are all over it.'

Mr Green's contacts with Mr Galley were approved by his former boss, ex-Shadow Home Secretary David Davis.

Yesterday it emerged that Mr Galley had applied for a job with another Shadow Minister but was turned down.

The Home Office is now paying for Mr Galley to stay in a 'safe house'. A spokesman said: 'When it became clear that a large number of journalists would be camped outside his door, he was offered the chance to move somewhere else and accepted the offer.'

Both Gordon Brown and Jacqui Smith have insisted that the police acted 'without either ministerial involvement or authorisation'.

Shadow Home Secretary Dominic Grieve has released more than 50 questions he said the Government had to answer, including who initiated the original leak inquiry and whether Commons Speaker Michael Martin authorised the raid on Mr Green's office.