The two-part BBC Panorama programme A Licence to Kill, detailing alleged links between loyalist murder gangs and the security forces in Northern Ireland, prima facie amounts to a serious indictment of the British government's security machine, through much of the 1990s and possibly earlier.
The detail and the authenticity of the programme are compelling. In particular, the input of experienced British detectives attached to the Stevens inquiry is persuasive. They chose their words carefully and precisely for the programme. They delivered their conclusions with clinical accuracy. The picture which has emerged is chilling.
At the centre of the allegations is the shadowy figure of Brian Nelson, the double-agent employed by British army intelligence. Nelson effectively held the power of life or death for those who had come to the notice of the security forcres as republican sympathisers - or who had the misfortune to live near them or look like them. But it appears that Nelson was only the last and most direct link in the assassination machine which was sponsored from deep within the security establishment - and possibly higher.
It seems likely that the British government is bracing itself and preparing public opinion for the shock of the forthcoming report by the Commissioner of the London Metropolitan Police, Sir John Stevens. It can only be assumed that the presence on the Panorama programme of senior investigating officers from the Stevens team took place with at least the tacit consent of the authorities.
There is significance also in the choice of Mr Hugh Orde as Chief Constable of the PSNI in succession to Sir Ronnie Flanagan. Mr Orde was the effective head of investigations for the Stevens inquiry. He has already said that the report will pull no punches. It has to be assumed that the new Chief Constable will be well placed to structure the PSNI in such a way that there can never again be a Brian Nelson or his equivalent.
Pressure continues to mount for a wider inquiry at judicial level. It is difficult to see how London can resist that demand if a fraction of what has now been alleged is confirmed by Stevens. But it is unlikely that Mr Blair will make any announcement of a further inquiry until after the Stevens report is available and until it has been analysed and digested.
If the ambitious experiment of the PSNI is to be a success it is essential that the baggage of the RUC past is cleared away. While most of Nelson's depradations involved military intelligence, a UDA source on the Panorama programme explicitly pointed the finger for the murder of solicitor Pat Finucane at elements within the RUC.
The PSNI cannot flourish unless this allegation - and others - is dealt with. The pieces must then lie where they fall. If reputations have to be reviewed, if records of good service have to be re-assessed, so be it. The families of the murder victims are entitled to know how and why their loved ones were taken from them. And good police officers and soldiers who have served honourably and honestly are entitled to have any future taint or suspicion removed from them.