THE Daniel Kawzcynski incident rumbles on, and I’m not sure what to think about it. Iain Dale seems to think there’s something sinister going on; I tend to suspect cock-up over conspiracy on these occasions, and I’m not even sure which side the cock-up was on.

The first – and, so far, only – time I was asked to hand over a constituent’s correspondence as part of an investigation, I confess I found myself in a bit of a quandry.

This was quite early in my tenure as an MP. The constituent, I strongly suspected for various reasons, was guilty of benefit fraud. He had given me his bank account statements in support of his request that I back his appeal against a decision to stop his Incapacity Benefit payments. I refused to support such an appeal, since I believed he wasn’t entitled to any benefits at all.

Then Glasgow City Council Housing Benefit section called me at my constituency office to ask if I would hand over the bank statements to them. They felt they would provide the evidence they needed to prove my constituent was guilty of fraud. 

I supported the council’s efforts to clamp down on benefit fraud. I knew my constituent was guilty of defrauding the taxpayer. I wanted him to be held to account. But…

I said no. If the council wanted to seek a court order demanding that I release the statements, then of course I would reconsider, I told them. But they were not my property and I wanted other constituents to know that if they entrusted me with sensitive documents, they would be safe with me.

Anticipating further requests, and possibly legal action, I returned the documents to the constituent.

That’s a mile away, of course, from having a police officer in your Commons office demanding (or perhaps politely asking for) a specific piece of correspondence. If any good has come out of the Damian Green affair, it’s that MPs have had to think more carefully about their obligations and rights when it comes to protecting constituents’ interests, something I suspect was taken for granted and not considered in too much detail previously.