Tony Blair’s torture scandal

From British daily The Independent:

Blair ‘torture policy‘ inquiry demanded

By Ben Padley, Press Association

Monday, 21 September 2009

Tony Blair must not be allowed to become EU President while it is “unclear” what his role was over allegations of British complicity in the torture of terror suspects, Liberal Democrats demanded today.

Delegates at the party’s annual conference in Bournemouth backed calls for the former Prime Minister not to be nominated for any future position of EU Council President.

It is thought Mr Blair may wish to accept an invitation to the powerful position if it is approved by the Lisbon Treaty, but he has not commented on it publicly.

During a debate on torture and extraordinary rendition, supporters cheered as foreign affairs spokesman Edward Davey demanded: “No Government can in good conscience support Tony Blair as a potential President of the European Council while it remains unclear what his role was in the development of British policy on torture.” …

The motion, which was backed overwhelmingly by a show of hands, calls for a “full and independent public inquiry into the facts relating to the involvement or knowledge of the British Government on matters relating to torture, extraordinary rendition and the illegal transfer of detainees to foreign jurisdictions between September 11 2001 and January 20 2009.”

It also demands Mr Blair should “not to be supported by any British or EU government for the post of President of the European Council as it would be wholly inappropriate for him to occupy such a position before an inquiry has established his role in the formulation of British policy on torture.”

An Iraqi hotel worker beaten to death by British soldiers screamed that he feared he would die while being tortured, the inquiry into his killing has heard: here. And here.

“Blair’s wars” show that Britain’s Labour Party has converged with the Tories into a single state of ideology, by John Pilger: here.

USA: In response to a public campaign waged by the CIA, the Obama administration has scaled back the already narrow investigation into CIA torture announced last month by Attorney General Eric Holder: here.

The hypocrisy of New Labour. Why pretend you never loved the Sun? Here.

I got a sense of the complete exhaustion of the new Labour project when Will Hutton launched a crushing attack on 12 wasted years at a fringe meeting at the party’s conference: here.