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Terrorism: Rendition

My Lords, I apologise to the noble Baroness. I did not intend to pre-empt her intervention. Does my noble friend appreciate that many of us on this side of the House will be very relieved at the tone and candour of the Government’s Statement, now that these new circumstances have come to light? Their very prompt decision to come before the House is reassuring. However, does my noble friend also appreciate that there will be continuing profound anxiety that there seems to have been a presumption that assurances by the United States could be taken at face value, despite all that we now know and have increasingly known about political manipulation in the United States of intelligence and the rest? There is precious little indication that serious concerns, expressed by the Council of Europe and other responsible bodies after a great deal of detailed research, were pursued, investigated and evaluated with the rigour that we should have been able to expect. Can we have reassurances on that score? Will my noble friend also reflect that phrases such as ““We believe water boarding to be torture””, or saying that we are reassured by some of the steps that have been taken on the legal situation in Guantanamo Bay are not in fact reassuring because they suggest that we are not being as resolute and firm as we should be? We should simply say that water boarding is torture and that Guantanamo Bay is illegal and cannot be condoned, whatever changes may be made in how it is handled.