Farid: Blair must come clean on torture or quit as Mid East envoy

1.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 25th Jun 2009

Reacting to the allegations that Tony Blair knew about secret interrogation guidance for British intelligence officers who became aware of the torture of suspects, Farid Ahmed said; "Surely Tony Blair cannot hold the position of Middle East Envoy when he stands accused of breaking the UN Convention against torture".

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary spokesperson for Walthamstow said; "He needs to either make clear what he knew about the torture policy or stand down as envoy. He cannot have it both ways."

"There are also serious questions to answer for both Jack Straw and David Blunkett. They had oversight of MI6 and MI5 at the time, and should have known about any guidance their agents had been given."

Farid concluded that "Parliament must be allowed a debate on the issue of oversight of guidance on interrogation and the current Justice Secretary, given his long-term involvement in this issue, should respond for the Government."