ANOTHER MINISTER GOES

Morten Bødskov resigned as Justice Minister this afternoon. His fate shows clearly just how careful politicians have to be.

Back in the spring of 2012 Parliament's Justice Committee decided to visit Christiania, the slightly lawless area of Copenhagen where hippies live and marijuana is smoked. The committee included Pia Kjærsgaard, the then leader of the far-right Danish People's Party. For some years, Ms. Kjærsgaard has had round-the-clock protection from PET, Denmark's intelligence service, because of threats to her person, so the visit was always going to be controversial. However, it could not take place at the time, since Copenhagen's police chief could not rearrange his diary in order to accompany them. However, it took place later that summer and without any problems.

So what's the story? On the face of it, nothing. The visit could not take place in February, it took place later. The problem is that the reason given, namely the police chief's diary, was not true; the Minister and the then head of the committee had made that up. The real reason was a threat evaluation by PET that the committee would be in danger.

This took a long time to emerge. The reason it did emerge was because of whistleblowers in PET, who were unhappy with the management style of the head of the organisation. They leaked that PET had looked at Ms. Kjærsgaard's personal diary and used that information for things other than her personal protection. Those leaks cost the head of PET his job last week. But as part of the digging associated with that, people started wondering exactly what the Minister had and had not done in connection with these famous visits. Nothing, said the Minister categorically and on many occasions.

Until last night, when prior to a meeting with the committee this morning, he gave written answers to the many questions they had asked him. And admitted that he had lied to the committee, the one thing which a Minister must never do. And so he had to go.

What is still unclear is why he went to such lengths to concoct something which was a complete lie. Why not simply say to the committee "I can't say why, but my intelligence sources have identified a threat, and my advice is that you visit Christiania at a later time when things are calmer"? What's so difficult about that? Doubtless at the time, there was some reason why this was not so easy, and the cock-and-bull story seemed like a good idea, whose truth would never be known. But as I say, Ministers have to be careful, things which seem nothing can become something.

Walter Blotscher