Jack Straw blasts ‘naïve, arrogant’ Guardian over leaks

The Guardian has demonstrated "extraordinary naiveté and arrogance" by claiming it can judge whether leaked material from the CIA whistleblower Edward Snowden has threatened national security, a former Labour home secretary Jack Straw said on Friday.

He said that the paper had shown an almost "adolescent excitement" about having the material, and suggested that the secrets had "gone to their head".

His intervention represents the first time a former Labour minister has intervened in the row and comes after the head of MI5 warned that the leaks were a "gift" to terrorists.

Straw told BBC News, "I'm not suggesting for a moment anybody in The Guardian gratuitously wants to risk anybody's life, but what I do think is that their sense of power of having these secrets and excitement - almost adolescent excitement - about these secrets has gone to their head.

"They're blinding themselves about the consequence and also showing an extraordinary naivety and arrogance in implying that they are in a position to judge whether or not particular secrets are not likely to damage the national interest. They're not in any position at all to do that."

The issue has divided the Liberal Democrats. Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, said on Friday that the leaks would be of "immense interest" to "people who want to do us harm".

However Vince Cable, the Lib Dem business secretary, said that The Guardian has done a "considerable public service" and that "everything they did was entirely right and correct".

He said that other information published elsewhere by Snowden was a "different kettle of fish".

The row comes after Andrew Parker, the new head of MI5, used his first speech to launch a scathing attack on the leaks warning they had ''gifted'' the terrorists the ability to attack ''at will''.

Clegg said that while he accepted that there was a "legitimate debate to be had" about the data gathering practices of the security services, but The Guardian had gone too far.

He told his Call Clegg phone-in show on LBC Radio, "I've got no doubt that there were some parts of what were published, which would have passed most Guardian readers completely by because they were very technical, but would have been immensely interesting for people who want to do us harm."

A Downing Street spokesman denied claims that the government is conducting a review into the parliamentary oversight of the intelligence services.

The spokesman said that the Prime Minister is "content" with the current system of oversight, but added that the deputy prime minister can pursue any concerns through the National Security Council.