Conservatives: We need a wider inquiry into torture allegations

Commenting on the news that the Attorney General has asked the Metropolitan Police to investigate allegations of torture in relation to Binyam Mohamed, David Cameron said:

"It is vital that we get to the bottom of whether Britain has been complicit in torture either advertently or inadvertently.

"I'm still not convinced that we will do that purely through an Attorney General or a Police investigation; I think we will need some form of wider inquiry to find out whether the right procedures and processes were in place to prevent Britain from being complicit in torture.

"We think you could get either a judge or a former permanent secretary to hold an inquiry; clearly these are sensitive issues that concern national security.

"You have to have arrangements to make sure that things that would be harmful for the national interest aren't published. But the key thing is getting to the bottom of what happened and making sure that if mistakes have been made in the past, ministers are open and clear about that and remove this potential stain from Britain's name."