Wednesday, 23 September 2009

Lib Dems to Tony Blair: Not in our EU

Opposition to Tony Blair
Opposition to Tony Blair's bid to become president of the European Union was formalised at the Liberal Democrat conference on Monday.

Party delegates in Bournemouth voted for a motion calling for the three-time former prime minister to be prevented from taking the post.

The motion adopted said Mr Blair's aspirations should not be supported by any British or EU government until an independent inquiry had clarified his role in the 'formulation of British policy on torture' during what the Bush administration dubbed the war on terror.

Lib Dem foreign affairs spokesman Edward Davey said: '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 involvement in torture.'

The vote came after a debate which saw party members call for a full public inquiry into allegations of complicity in torture by MI5 and MI6.

It follows recent revelations that the Metropolitan police will be investigating the security services over the allegations.

Delegates also voted for the government to provide the inquiry with full details on each and every policy it has adopted over the last 20 years on how British officials should act in circumstances where they may risk being complicit in torture.

They demanded the immediate release of the summary of the 42 intelligence documents relating to the treatment of Binyam Mohamed and for the government to renegotiate the terms of its agreement with the United States over the use of Diego Garcia.

'With the police now investigating claims of complicity in torture against both MI5 and MI6, the government can no longer resist calls for a full judicial inquiry,' Mr Davey continued.

'Ministers must not be allowed to continue to hide behind ongoing police investigations.'ADNFCR-708-ID-19371418-ADNFCR

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