The son of the murdered private detective Daniel Morgan has said the home secretary is compounding his family’s grief by blocking the publication of a report into the killing.
Mr Morgan’s son, also called Daniel, said Priti Patel should bring “our torture to an end” by allowing the findings to be published.
An inquiry panel set up in 2013 to look at the case had been expected to publish the report of its investigation into the role of police and media corruption in Mr Morgan’s killing on Monday 24 May.
But on 18 May, the Home Office said the report could not be published until Ms Patel had reviewed it and made any changes she thought necessary.
A spokesperson for the government department said Ms Patel wanted to make sure the report complied with “national security considerations”.
Ms Patel herself told Channel 4 News that she thought it was important for her to look at the report before the information was entrusted to the public.
“I think it’s important that I, as home secretary, actually receive the report before it is published,” she said.
“I have yet to receive this report and I think it’s right that I receive the report and read it before laying it in parliament. That is standard practice when it comes to reports of this nature and that is absolutely the right process to follow.”
Writing in The Guardian, the victim’s son Daniel said: “I urge the home secretary to stand aside. You say you want to review the report over concerns relating to the Human Rights Act and national security. You know you have made no preparations for any such review, because none was ever envisaged on your part.
“You have said you understand how we feel and you don’t wish to compromise the integrity or the independence of the panel and their work. If this is true, we see no reason for you not to desist immediately, so that the panel’s report may be published as it stands without any further delay.”
In a message posted on Friday, Alastair Morgan, the brother of the murdered man, said: “Having been briefed by the panel on the current situation, all I can say at this moment is that discussions between the Daniel Morgan panel and the home secretary to resolve this situation are ongoing.”
He said that Ms Patel “would have received the report one day before publication, as is the convention, but she blocked publication and insisted she was entitled to redact if she saw fit”.
He added: “This was not part of the deal.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Under the panel’s terms of reference agreed in 2013, it is for the home secretary to make arrangements for the report’s publication to parliament.
“Until the panel provide the home secretary with the report, she is unable to make those arrangements or meet her responsibilities to ensure it complies with human rights and national security considerations, should these arise.
“We hope the panel will reconsider and provide the Home Office with the report so those checks can begin swiftly and we can publish soon.”
