And there's hardly a warm welcome in store for him
• The question of who knew what and when over the detention of David Miranda grows ever more curious. We know the Americans, PM Dave and deputy PM Nick Clegg were in on the wheeze – indeed, Dave seems pretty gung-ho about the affair. Maybe he'd like a bit of the laptop we smashed up at GCHQ's behest as a keepsake. But as we mentioned on Wednesday, there hasn't been much word from the mayor of London, Boris Johnson, who has strategic responsibility for the Met via the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime. Is it likely the Yard tipped off the Home Office and No 10 and the US administration and said nothing to the mayor or his lieutenants? We don't know, but on his return from Australia he'll have to deal with this sort of inquiry, because Labour at City Hall is preparing written questions for his attention. The glow from his holiday promises to dissipate pretty fast.
• What of the Met itself? Who knew what and when? It says the decision-making was detailed and lengthy. "The procedure was reviewed throughout to ensure the examination was both necessary and proportionate. Our assessment is that the use of the power in this case was legally and procedurally sound." But who assured the commissioner and his people that use of the Terrorism Act was a legally sensible tool for detaining the partner of a journalist not suspected of any terrorist activity? The government says it was the Met's wheeze, and thus attention inevitably turns to Scotland Yard's Directorate of Legal Services and its head, Hugh Giles. Was it brought into the discussions? Those who know these things say that isn't always the case, even in matters of obvious gravity. And what was the political strategic advice about the advisability of such a long and controversial detention, even if it was legal under the act? We have asked.
• Let us turn to Sir Malcolm Rifkind, deployed to Radio 4's Today programme on Wednesdaymorning to spin for the government in that mellifluous, meaningless way he does. The Guardian was in the wrong and knew it was in the wrong, he said, because it had material that was "official secrets". But if we all saw life that way, there wouldn't be much with which to fill the website or the newspaper. It's not so long ago that the menu from the House of Commons restaurant was covered by the Official Secrets Act. It was good of Sir Malcolm to use his real name.
• Miranda was stopped under schedule 7 of the Terrorism Act. What is that? It means police can stop, examine and search passengers at ports, airports and international rail terminals. It means there is no requirement for an officer to have a "reasonable suspicion" of terrorism activity before stopping passengers. It means an awful lot of leeway. And it means all sorts get stopped. Talk to Muslim travellers and hear the tales. Massoud Shadjareh, of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, sits on the schedule 7 accountability board. No matter. Last October, leaving Heathrow, police stopped him under schedule 7.
• Read all about it – unless it's a secret, of course. And unless you are languishing in Guantánamo. They seem to share the same few thoughts about openness as Rifkind. When lawyers for Shaker Aamer, the British resident detained in Guantanámo without charge or trial for 11 years, attempted to deliver a copy of The Gulag Archipelago by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, all seemed well. Until they spoke to him again, and discovered that he never received it. There has already been a kerfuffle about the censorship of reading materials at Guantánamo. In July it emerged that books by crime writer John Grisham had been banned. Aamer's lawyers did supply him with Orwell's 1984, and he declared it one of his favourites. We might send a menu from the Commons restaurant. See if it slips the net.
• Finally, after the departure of Ukip CEO Will Gilpin, and his explosive parting shot that the party will remain "a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs", who will the party call upon to seize the reins? The Telegraph says the hot tip is Neil "liar and a cheat" Hamilton. Oh, let it be true. Happy days.
Twitter: @hugh_muir
