Bluster won’t fool lovers of justice

THE bluster, the blurring of facts, the avuncular appeals to common sense… as Kenneth Clarke sought to reassure the public over his plans for secret justice, the performance was vintage Ken.

But though the Mail has a soft spot for the Justice Secretary, on this issue of vital importance to civil liberties he is utterly unconvincing – and plain wrong. On Tuesday, a parliamentary committee accused him of basing his case for Kafkaesque secret trials and inquests on ‘spurious assertions’.

Yesterday, he had nothing to offer but more of the same – claiming, without a jot of evidence, that lives would be at risk and the Americans would stop sharing intelligence if his plans were rejected.

But isn’t the blunt truth, as he let slip in one of his interviews, that the main reason for wanting to change the law is to protect MI5 and MI6 from having to answer for their actions in court?

Of course, the Mail accepts that lives must not be recklessly endangered by exposing intelligence sources and methods. But strong safeguards for sensitive evidence already exist.

The big change, under these plans, is that ministers, police and security services would be licensed to hush up their embarrassments, while denying victims of official misdeeds the right to contest or even hear the Government’s case.

And though the Justice Secretary claims he is listening to his critics, he has offered no meaningful assurances.

He still won’t concede that all inquests, whether into military deaths or police shootings, must be held in public. And he still hints there will be some civil cases in which ministers, not judges, should decide if a hearing is to be secret.

This isn’t justice. It’s a betrayal of the ancient principle that justice must be

seen to be done. To his credit, Nick Clegg has demanded radical amendments to Mr Clarke’s plans as the price for the Lib Dems’ support.

But the Labour leader has gone further, saying they should be dropped altogether from this year’s legislative programme and sent back to the drawing board. These are words you have not read often in this column: Ed Miliband is right.