Downing Street Says » Rendition

» Thursday, February 21, 2008

Rendition

Asked if was a breach of trust between transatlantic friends, that it took six years for the US to tell us about the two cases of rendition, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman, (PMS), replied that both the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister had both responded to questions regarding the rendition flights. The point was that the information that we had from the US and their assurances were given in good faith, and we accepted their assurances and referred to them publicly also in good faith. But there had been a recognition from Secretary Rice that mistakes had been made with these two cases. That was not acceptable and deep regret was shared by both sides. The Foreign Secretary had put in place measures to ensure no other oversights of this kind have taken place, or indeed can take place again.

Asked if we were taking steps with the Americans to ensure there had not been other cases, the PMS quoted from the Foreign Secretary’s statement saying that he had "asked officials to compile a list of all flights where we had been alerted to concerns regarding rendition through the UK or our Overseas Territories. Once this is ready, we will be sending this list to the US and seeking their specific assurance that none of these flights were used for rendition purposes". That would be progressed as quickly as possible.

Asked when the correct information was given to the UK Government, the PMS replied that this was set out in the Foreign Secretary’s statement.

Asked why the statement was made today of all days, the PMS replied that it was made at the soonest possible point where we had the appropriate information that we were able to share with the House.

Asked if Jack Straw would make a statement as the former Foreign Secretary, the PMS replied that David Miliband had spoken on behalf of the Government setting out the position and the information that had subsequently come to light.

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