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Coroners and Justice Bill

We run the risk of rehearsing debates that we had before on secret inquests. The starting point is that an inquest is not intended to prove something beyond all reasonable doubt. Public interest immunity applies to inquests, subject to judicial review by either side, and the Government can persuade the coroner to withhold sensitive material, as happened and was upheld in the Jordan and McCann cases, for example. My right hon. Friend has already mentioned gisting. Such restrictions are compatible, in principle, with an article 2 compliant inquiry. My concern is that what is being proposed is a secret inquiry at the behest of the Executive.