Major Miliband and the Inquiry of Doom

When the PM announced an enquiry into collusion with torture by the security services there was one senior Labour politician more concerned than most. As Foreign Secretary in the last regime, Milimajor had this tricky issue to deal with. We know from evidence submitted to the Baha Moussa enquiry that Civil Servants make it clear to Ministers whenever they foresee political problems ahead. As the allegations gathered momentum, with increasing credibility from several courtrooms, there would have to have been a strategy meeting at the FO. The options were limited:

• Come clean and launch a transparent and open investigation.                                                       [A complete non-starter - this was New Labour remember- who utilised 'National Security' as a smokescreen for all kinds of nefarious skullduggery whenever and wherever possible].
• Outright denial  - "Nothing to do with us squire." Attack the messenger - another well worn tactic of the sofa cabinet as fostered by Alistair Campbell.
• Alternatively "I know nothing of any wrongdoing." Those familiar with their James Bond will be aware of 'deniability.'
• Kick it into the long grass - with a general election coming up, the last thing Milimajor and his Cabinet collegues needed was to see his name and NewLabour linked with torture on the news stands. To do this properly entailed using every legal twist and turn, every device and delaying tactic available to the finest legal brains. Every revelation was to be contested and challenged. At the same time Ministers would parrot that the UK did not do torture. This was not the contention. 
• A combination of these last two with a touch of attack thrown in. From observation and analysis, this seems to have been the chosen strategy.
• Milimajor's difficulty was to either appear a fool for not knowing what was happening on his watch; or to appear a knave for running a campaign of denial, deception and obstruction. To this observer, Milimajor is not a fool.

Cameron's announcement is not as rigorous as it could have been. The Investigator is well known to the security services. The Inquiry will not take place until the last of the court cases has been settled, 'probably November/December'. This will inevitably be an unrealistic start time as each resolved case will encourage others to add their names to the growing list. All of this will no doubt be a great relief to Milimajor as by the time the Inquiry begins he could be well established as the new leader of the Labour Party. 

The clincher - no-one to be charged. Victims to receive 'compensation'.  This stinks. Any member of MI5/MI6 knowingly utilising the results of torture should be in jail. Any Minister who sanctioned such actions should be sharing a porridge spoon. Yet again we have one law for the masses and another for our political class. Imagine the outcry from the tabloids if this were to become the abiding system of justice in the UK? Robbers and burglars admonished but free to commit further offences - victims compensated for being robbed. Mmmm.

Anyone reading this who is entitled to vote in the Labour leadership election should bear all of the above in mind before placing their cross. Anyone reading this who is not entitled to vote should lobby those who are.