Official apology after CIA 'torture' jets used UK base

Misleading the House of Commons is one of the most serious charges we have here in the United Kingdom. So, it was incredibly embarrassing yesterday for David Miliband to stand before the chamber and admit that both Tony Blair and Jack Straw had, because of unreliable information passed from American security services, misled the House.

Miliband admitted that the British governments claims that no rendition flights had taken place on British territory was wrong, and that Britain only became aware that the US had landed two flights involving rendition suspects on the island of Diego Garcia when informed recently by the United States.

Mr Miliband said he was "very sorry indeed" to have to correct previous statements made by the then Prime Minister Mr Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw that rendition flights had not used British bases. He said the Diego Garcia cases had not come to light earlier because of an error in a previous US records search. "The House and the Government will share deep disappointment at this news and about its late emergence," he added. "That disappointment is shared by our US allies. They recognise the absolute imperative for the Government to provide accurate information to Parliament."

I was watching Channel Four news last night when Miliband was asked if he could guarantee that there were no other rendition flights that we did not know about. He, rightly, replied that it was impossible to prove a negative which only made me think about the situation prior to the Iraq war when we asked Saddam to do just that. "Prove that you haven't got WMD."

But the seriousness of Miliband's confession cannot be overstated. We were assured, repeatedly, and from sources at the very top of our government, that no such flights had ever taken place on British territory. Now we are being told that those assurances were wrong.

What does it say about the Special Relationship when it is revealed that, despite US assurances, British ministers have been unknowingly misleading parliament because the information they have been given by the US is flat wrong? How do we trust future reassurances when it has taken six long years to uncover this set of lies?

The Guardian's leader column today asks some questions:

Why, it must be asked, has the US waited until now to reveal what has been going on? Why have all those official requests from London failed to elicit the truth until now? How serious were the original inquiries on which the earlier assurances were based? It is not just disappointing when ministers repeatedly mislead parliament. It is unacceptable and wrong.

The foreign secretary now says he will compile a list of all the flights "where we have been alerted to concerns regarding rendition through the UK or our overseas territories". The list will be put to the US for item-by-item assurances. The results will be published and announced to MPs. Why could all this not have been done before?

It has always appeared to me as if we were operating a "don't ask, don't tell" policy regarding what exactly the Americans were up to.

If Miliband has changed that policy then he is to be congratulated. But it's far too early to come to that conclusion.

What is obvious is the Americans have been misleading British MP's who have, in turn, been misleading parliament.

Mr Miliband denied there was a deliberate cover-up and said he believed the US had acted "in good faith". However, Gordon Brown, attending an EU summit in Brussels, expressed his "disappointment" and said Washington's failure to disclose the flights earlier was "a very serious issue".

It is, of course, a very serious issue. Lying to the House of Commons requires the resignation of any MP who commits such an act. But, when it is revealed that the House was misled because the minister in question was misinformed by his American counterpart, we are obviously going to question what else the minister might be unaware of?

Human rights activists voiced concern that the two cases which had been identified might only be the "tip of the iceberg". Kate Allen, of Amnesty International UK, said: "It is not enough for the Government simply to accept US assurances on correct behaviour in the war on terror. We should retain our own integrity and act accordingly."

It is simply astonishing that, in the middle of a supposed war on terror, the UK don't know who is landing and taking off on a territory as remote and as tiny as Diego Garcia. Ignorance of what is taking place on such a tiny territory has to be willful. One can only hope that Miliband is reversing a policy of willful ignorance.

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UPDATE:

Anyone unaware of the disgraceful treatment meted out to the people of Diego Garcia can catch up here.

Tags: David Miliband, Diego Garcia, rendition, torture flights, CIA