London, June 18th.

A new wrinkle has emerged in the London Siege story.

James Gordon Brown (2), who barricaded himself into his home in the Richmond Terrace area of Whitehall during the European Elections, has now alleged that former Prime Minister Tony Blair is personally complicit in the policy which subjected him to abuse and mistreatment for a period of some years. Brown now says he believes this amounts to torture, a crime under the 1984 UN Convention of which Britain is a signatory.

“He kept saying he had my best interests at heart and I believed him,” Brown apparently told reporters, “but as I look back over the horror of those years, I see he was directly responsible!”

Britain’s policy on torture has changed more than once since the terror attacks of September 11th 2001. It is understood that Mr Blair was aware of the policy as it stood in 2002:

British intelligence officers were given written instructions that they could not “be seen to condone” torture and that they must not “engage in any activity yourself that involves inhumane or degrading treatment of prisoners”.

But they were also told they were not under any obligation to intervene to prevent detainees from being mistreated. (Guardian)

While the British courts have not made clear their position on the precise definition of complicity in torture, international law deems it a criminal offense if a person in authority knows abuse is taking place and fails “to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his or her power to prevent or repress their commission” (1). Mr Brown alleges that Mr Blair directly or indirectly encouraged members of his government to tease, mock, and bully Mr Brown during Mr Blair’s time as Prime Minister and subsequently, and to engage in other activities which caused Mr Brown pain and suffering which is documented in a dossier he has submitted to Parliament. 

In a 2005 House of Lords judgment, Lord Bingham said that “the prohibition of torture requires member states to do more than eschew the practice of torture”. (Guardian)

Asked whether Mr Blair had been complicit in the alleged torture of his alleged successor, an alleged spokesman for the alleged former Prime Minister allegedly said: “It is completely untrue that Mr Blair has ever authorised the use of torture. He is opposed to it in all circumstances.” The spokesman then allegedly refused to say anything else and hid under an alleged chair shouting “you can’t make me answer the question.”

Demands for a public inquiry continue.