Terror watchdog calls for MI5 to be more accountable
Stricter scrutiny of MI5 should be introduced to boost public confidence in the way that Britain's security and intelligence operations are carried out, the Government's terrorism watchdog said today.
Lord Carlile of Berriew said a new system for monitoring the Security Service was needed in the wake of the Binyam Mohamed torture allegations and claims that it had misled Parliament over the affair.
He said one option would be to give a panel including judges and other independent experts a role in questioning MI5 about its activities to improve public faith that proper checks on its conduct were being carried out.
Lord Carlile's comments follow the Court of Appeal's decision to order the release of previously confidential intelligence material supplied to Britain by the US showing that Binyam Mohammed was subjected to "cruel, inhumane and degrading" treatment and that MI5 had known about it.
Further controversy broke out after a leaked letter revealed that one of the judges had been planning to suggest in the judgment that MI5 had deliberately misled Parliament's Intelligence and Security Committee, which is responsible for monitoring its activities, and could not trusted.
Today, as the US warned that the release of the classified information could affect the future exchange of intelligence material, Lord Carlile said that a new system for monitoring MI5 should be introduced after the election.
"We have to have a system in which Parliament has confidence in the scrutiny that is being carried out and one in which the public also has confidence," he said. "It would be helpful for public confidence in the Security Service if, after the general election, the security and intelligence scrutiny by Parliament and its methodology could be given some attention."
Lord Carlile, the Government's independent reviewer of counter-terrorism legislation, said one option would be to replace the Intelligence and Security Committee with a smaller group of vetted individuals to whom more information could be provided by both MI5 and MI6.
He said another would be to follow the Canadian example and appoint an independent inspector of the security and intelligence services, and a further option would be to use other independent people, such as judges, to monitor their conduct.
In further remarks on the Binyam Mohamed case, Lord Carlile said that he believed that, despite the American concerns, the Court of Appeal ruling was unlikely to result in long-term damage to intelligence sharing between Britain and the US.
He also insisted that while ministers would be entitled to use national security as a justification for withholding the release of future intelligence received from abroad, this should not be abused. "They can't claim a class immunity just because information comes from America," he said.
