A few years back, when some government crisis other than the Home Office was taking up his time, John Reid popped in to the Channel Five News studios for an interview. As Reid was performing his pugnacious exculpatory role on behalf of the government, his special adviser installed himself in the editor’s office. The editor’s computer was logged in, and the adviser proceeded to have what I suppose you’d call “a nose around.” Upon being discovered in mid-snoop, this individual couldn’t even manage a blush.

That little anecdote sprang into my mind after I caught up with a speech by the Met’s Peter Clarke, who is the UK’s National Co-ordinator of Terrorist Investigations. Clarke fingered a “small number of misguided individuals who betray confidences” and by doing so, he said, compromised investigations, revealed sources of life-saving intelligence and “put lives at risk during major investigations.”

Could he possibly mean people like our friend (to whom Mr Reid has shown the kind of loyalty that one hopes is an indication of his charity rather than his judgment)?

Said Mr Clarke:

“I have no idea where the leaks came from, but whoever was responsible should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.”

Ashamed of themselves? I’ll bet their faces are beetroot red…