FORMER BRITISH prime minister Tony Blair should not be nominated by the United Kingdom for a top European Union post until his knowledge of British involvement in the torture of suspected Islamic terrorists is known, the Liberal Democrats have demanded.
Mr Blair has been mentioned as being interested in becoming the first president of the European Union Council – a post that will be filled if the Lisbon Treaty is brought into force after ratification in Ireland and the Czech Republic.
Liberal Democrat delegates, meeting in Bournemouth at their annual party conference, yesterday called for “a full and independent inquiry” into the British government’s “involvement or knowledge” of torture and rendition cases since the 9/11 attacks.
Mr Blair should not be supported “by any British or EU government” for the EU post as “it would be wholly inappropriate for him to occupy such a position before an inquiry has established his role in the formulation of British policy on torture”.
In July, Baroness Glenys Kinnock, whose husband, Neil, is a former leader of the Labour Party, said the British government would support Mr Blair’s candidature for the job.
Mr Blair, who is currently working as an international Middle East envoy, along with private business interests, has not spoken publicly about his desire for the post, although it is believed he is interested.
If the post is created, the president of the EU Council would be chosen by EU heads of government and serve for two and a half years, renewable for one further term. The president would be charged with co-ordinating the positions of member states.
During a debate on torture and extraordinary rendition, Liberal Democrat MP Edward Davey said no British government could “in good conscience support Tony Blair” while British knowledge of rendition and torture remained unclear.
Two investigations are currently under way into allegations that MI5 and MI6 intelligence service officers were involved, or knew about, the CIA’s “water-boarding” of suspects, and other tortures.
Somali-born but British-resident Binyam Mohamed claims that British intelligence officers were complicit in his torture in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Morocco before his transfer to Guantánamo Bay.
In his speech to the Bournemouth conference, Mr Davey said there was evidence that British agents had used information obtained through torture and had questioned suspects whom they knew to have been tortured.
The Liberal Democrats also demanded that the UK renegotiate the long lease it has given to the United States to use the Pacific island of Diego Garcia, which was used by the CIA to ship some suspects around the world.
Meanwhile, the party’s shadow chancellor, Vince Cable, proposed a 0.5 per cent tax on over 250,000 homes worth more than £1 million, which would leave Queen Elizabeth II with a £5 million annual bill on Buckingham Palace.
Currently, billionaires such as owner of Chelsea football club Roman Abramovich pay the same tax as someone in the same council area with a property worth £300,000, said Mr Cable.
The Liberal Democrats, who are Britain’s third largest party but could be in government next year, have also proposed that Capital Gains Tax should jump from 18 per cent to 40 per cent, to stop tax-dodging by the wealthy.