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Terrorism: Rendition

My Lords, I thank the Minister for repeating the Statement made earlier in the other place. Since the earliest indications of the practice of extraordinary rendition, there have been persistent calls for a full and impartial inquiry, which is required under the terms of the UK obligations as a signatory to the UN convention against torture. Although some of my concerns have already been voiced by others, and indeed to some extent answered, I make no apology for repeating them because we are dealing here with a matter of such fundamental importance. The UK’s role has been called into question time and time again. The response has always been that such an investigation was not necessary. Does not this revelation show how much further investigation, including scrutiny, needs to be carried out of any infringements of the prohibition on using UK airspace? Surely we cannot continue to have simply blind trust any longer. Furthermore, despite the Government’s reluctance to reveal the names of the individuals concerned, if those individuals come before a military commission and are charged on the basis of information extracted under torture, they can be protected by the international community, including us, only if we know who they are and the details of their current circumstances.