As real terrorists wreaked havoc and slaughtered hundreds in Mumbai last week, here in the UK Stephenson of the Yard deployed counter-terrorist police against an opposition MP, for seemingly no greater a crime than receiving non-sensitive material and placing it in the public domain.

To the disturbing list of people who have found themselves on the wrong end of counter-terrorist measures, it appears we can now add Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition. To refresh your memory, here is a list of some of the ‘terrorists‘ that the measures have been used against - SO FAR:

- People who heckle at Labour party conferences
- People going about the school run, to check that they live in the catchment area 
- People who allow their dogs to foul in parks
- The entire population of Iceland

As with the others, it is difficult to understand why Damien Green was added to that list. If our elected representatives cannot hold the Government to account, what is the value of them being there? What is the point? The information that Mr Green MP put into the public domain undoubtedly belonged there. They were certainly matters of public interest; they were certainly not matters of national security.

The Speaker of the House has a lot to answer for, and deserves a rough ride from MPs when Parliament sits again tomorrow. He should have prevented the police from entering Mr Green’s Westminster offices. As constituents, we are entitled to expect that the matters we write to our MPs about will be treated in confidence, not fearful that at any given moment, our MPs might be unavailable to us and our confidential correspondence be rifled through by Plod.

We are also entitled to expect that when opposition MPs discover that Government has been lying to us and covering up scandals, they have the confidence and the ability to bring such matters to the attention of the public.

First civil liberties and now Parliamentary privilege are being steadily eroded by the clumsy application of this ill-drafted law. The cries of “If you’ve done nothing wrong, you’ve nothing to hide” are increasingly sounding hollow. What’s next?