Intelligence and democracy

We are in a mess. The acceptance in Parliament that the Government will pay several millions to claimants saying they were tortured with the connivance and collusion of the UK is very worrying. Labour cannot say a word as all this happened on their watch. Several ex-Ministers will be really pleased as the cloak of secrecy descends on the whole affair. The Libdems are tied into the coalition and are minding their p's and q's. As for the Tories? Mention 'National Security' and the majority of them roll over and wait to have their tummies tickled. It leaves one of the most shaming incidents in a legal limbo. We are relying on those MPs described as 'the usual suspects' to stick up for decency and transparency.

 Ken Clarke said, "We want to draw a line and move on." There was also much guff from all sides about the Inquiry (lead by a Security insider) and a lot of talk about 'National Security." It suits the political classes of all parties to 'move on.' They talk of realpolitik and necessary judgements. There is little or no talk of values, rights or justice.

Thankfully not everyone buys this consensus among our rulers. The Independent leader on Wednesday raised some serious concerns.

"There is a questionable relationship between the intelligence services and elected politicians too. The previous Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, under advice from the intelligence services, led an unsuccessful attempt to block the courts' release of evidence relating to Mr Mohamed's mistreatment. Mr Miliband argued that the information would harm national security and damage our intelligence-sharing relationship with the United States. Yet when the evidence was made public by the Court of Appeal, it was immediately clear that it contained nothing that justified Mr Miliband's attempt at suppression. This setback has been casually brushed off by the intelligence services. They are now lobbying the present administration to retain control orders for terror suspects, despite a Coalition pledge to review their use.

This all adds up to a malign pattern of behaviour. The intelligence services have grown over-mighty. They do a valuable and often dangerous job in safeguarding the public. But they need to be subject to democratic authority and judicial oversight. In short, they need to learn their proper place." Independent 17/10/2010

Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?  Who watches the watchmen? Certainly not the present supine self-interested smug bunch occupying valuable space in Westminster.