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Terrorism: Rendition

Let me first assure my noble friend that not just Prestwick but all UK airports that could possibly have involved rendition flights or flights that have passed through UK airspace will be examined. He has caught me a little with his second point about flights returning without anyone on board, which is of course a harder issue, on which we need to reflect. But again let me make it clear that the US assured us that no detainee had been or would be rendered through UK airspace or that of our overseas territories without our knowledge. These assurances were sought in 2005 as a result of the concerns raised then and have been repeated on numerous occasions since. Particularly as regards Diego Garcia, as I said, this had started in 2003, so we continue to believe that what we are discussing is a problem of failed reporting—an historical problem about that earlier period. It will be a huge disappointment and cause of difficulty in our relationships if we find that there are more recent cases; we devoutly hope that we will not. However, for that reason, the list that we submit will be as exhaustive as possible, because we have to slay the demons on this in order to restore trust and confidence to both sides of the relationship.