A review into the recent arrest of Conservative MP Damian Green in Britain has raised "concerns" about police action but concluded detectives did not act unlawfully.
Ian Johnston, chief constable of the British Transport Police, was brought in to carry out an urgent assessment of the highly-criticised arrest of the Tory immigration spokesman over a series of alleged leaks from the Home Office.
Mr Green was quizzed for nine hours and his Westminster office searched by counter-terrorism officers on November 27th, provoking fury from MPs of all parties especially as speaker Michael Martin admitted they had not had a warrant to enter parliament.
The Metropolitan Police said Mr Johnston's review had concluded the searches and arrests were lawful, but said there were questions regarding the methods taken in the Green case.
"He also raise concerns as to whether elements of the investigative approach meet current policy and best practice," said assistant commissioner Bob Quick.
"These issues will be carefully considered."
Some MPs have called for the review to be published in full but Mr Quick said they had to wait until their criminal investigation was completed.
Conservative sources told the Guardian newspaper that they now expected police to formally drop any possible charges against Mr Green within days.
Police said they had acted after receiving a complaint from the Cabinet Office, the department in charge of the rules governing the conduct of government employees and ministers, about regular leaks of Home Office information.
Mr Green was arrested on suspicion of "conspiring to commit misconduct in a public office and aiding and abetting, counselling or procuring misconduct in a public office" but he said he was simply doing his job as an MP.
His arrest forced denials from the government that ministers had been involved, while it also led to widespread criticism in parliament of the behaviour of Mr Martin.
Reuters