divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/98596?ns=guardianpageName=Politics%3A+Damian+Green+row%3A+I+did+not+authorise+police+search%2C+says+Speakerch=Politicsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Michael+Martin%2CDamian+Green%2CConservatives%2CPolice+%28politics%29%2CHouse+of+Commons%2CPolitics%2CUK+newsc5=Policy+Society%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CUnclassifed+Contributorsc6=Deborah+Summersc7=2008_12_03c8=1128134c9=articlec10=GUc11=Politicsc12=Michael+Martinc13=c14=h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FMichael+Martin" width="1" height="1" //divpThe Commons Speaker, Michael Martin, today insisted he did not authorise a police search of Damian Green's Commons office, nor was he told that they did not have a warrant./ppMartin made today's statement to explain why the Metropolitan police were allowed to search the shadow immigration minister's parliamentary office following a string of high-profile leaks/pp"I was not told that the police did not have a warrant," Martin told MPs. I regret that a consent form was then signed by the serjeant at arms without consulting the clerk."/ppHe added: "I was not asked whether consent should be given."/ppMartin said the events surrounding Green's arrest were of "grave concern" to all MPs and announced that he would set up a committee of seven senior MPs, nominated by him, to investigate the case and make recommendations./ppThe police raid on Green's offices last Thursday prompted outrage among MPs on all sides, who considered it a breach of parliamentary privilege./ppHowever, Martin reminded MPs that chapter seven of Erskine May – an authoritative text on the working of parliament – states that parliamentary privilege has never "prevented the operation of the criminal law"./ppThe Speaker said police contacted the serjeant at arms, Jill Pay, to request access to search Green's office./pp"I have been told that police did not explain, as they are required to do, that the serjeant was not obliged to consent or that a warrant could have been insisted upon."/ppMartin said he "regretted" that the serjeant then signed a consent form without consulting the clerk of the house./ppThe Speaker said he wanted to make "very clear" that he was not asked the question of whether consent should be given or whether a warrant should be insisted upon./ppIn points of order that followed the statement, Green thanked MPs for their support but said he wanted to make it clear that MPs were not above the law./ppHowever, he added "releasing information that is merely embarrassing to the government is not against the law"./ppMichael Howard, former Tory party leader, said Green's arrest and the search of his offices had been "a deplorable affair"./ppDavid Winnick, Labour MP for Walsall North, said Martin's statement showed the raid was "totally without justification" and he demanded the officers involved to be called to the bar of the house to explain their conduct./pp"We need an explanation and we need it promptly," he said./ppJacqui Smith, the home secretary, is expected to make a statement to the Commons tomorrow regarding Green's arrest./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/michaelmartin"Michael Martin/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/damian-green"Damian Green/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives"Conservatives/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/police"Police/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/houseofcommons"House of Commons/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/j-uqI4GnGGdQQmh0yDpkkLCj6BQ/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/j-uqI4GnGGdQQmh0yDpkkLCj6BQ/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p