The curious case of the Guantanamo Bay pay-outs

Vulture

What to make of making killionaires of a group of Islamist nutjobs who left this country in order to learn how to kill us all better?

Madness, that's what. Our political class has gone stark staring bonkers. NO legalistic arguments can justify this : it is treachery, pure and simple.

Chris W

Where can I apply to get my money back?

Bob Dixon

Send the bill to Blair & Brown along with the cost of clearing up their other follies

Neil Turner

Crime does pay

RKing

Whilst sending the bill to Blair a warrant for his arrest should also be sent.

This is surely a full admission to a committed crime.

Arrest him NOW!!!

Nicholas

But what if each and every one of us held that the religion of Islam was primarily responsible for the ongoing fear, trauma and disruption imposed on us by 50 years of Islamic-inspired extremist terrorism and demanded compensation?

The playing field, as always, is far from being level.

DavidDP

It's distasteful, but on principle has to be done given the disgraceful practices of torture condoned by Labour, as this is what civilised countries do when a government has been found wanting, and in practice, as noted, it's better to do this than to have the security services tied up for years as the costs of that would not just be measured in money.

Nicholas Hallam

A desire to distance itself from anti-terror controversies can easily be mistaken for squeamishenss in dealing with the terror problem itself.

If Guantanamo is not an acceptable response from the free world to an existential threat, I am left wondering what would be. Or are we now to believe now that the threat was imaginary?

Osred

More BNP recruitment material?

Way to go Gramscian legal and political establishment.

oldtimer

I thought D Miliband said this sort of thing (complicity in torture) did not happen.

Colin

Can't wait to hear what Davy Blah Blah has to say about this...

lids

I suspect those gentlemen in the secret intelligence service couldn't take the heat and were rather worried about their criminal involvement in torture. Much better to get the British taxpayer to cough up, thereby resolving the tricky prospect of appearing behind a curtain, under oath.

Accountability? Good God man, this is secret Britain, they were all guilty anyway..

normanc

I think it's hilarious, I'm absolutely loving it.

Just when you think this government can't get any more farcical they keep on giving.

Followed up by Dave's U-turn on his vanity public payrollers this has been an excellent day for us lovers of low farce.

Graham

It seems to me that this Government wants to get rid if this problem as quickly as possible, & blow the cost to the taxpayer. One issue that amazes me is that most of the returnees are not even British. They should have been returned to their homelands & sought justice from there!

Slim Jim

Oh, what a tangled web the political class weave! Vulture is right - it's treachery, pure and simple. The current government may be slightly better than the last lot, but they are still taking us for fools. It's in their DNA. This erosion of trust cannot continue, but what to do?

justathought

If its not Tower Hamlets and other inner city areas becoming Islamic republic enclaves then its something else.

Last week we learn that the Abu Hamza £1m home is to receive a £30k refurbishment, the second such in five years while questions hang over whether living accommodation is fit-for-purpose for our servicemen and women.

Now these creeps get millions while our injured servicemen and women get derisory compensation for war wounds.

At least the new legal aid rules will prevent Hamza and his ilk contesting the new housing benefit cap?

Victor Southern

Now that they are in funds can we send home those who are classified as "British residents" and not British citizens? Should have done that before and then Syria or Saudi Arabia or Iran or Pakistan could pay them compensation.

Jane

I understand the reason to make the settlement but feel very unhappy. We have people - not all citizens but residents who were picked up often in war zones. They were detained as they were considered a risk. We accepted some back into the country even though we were not legally obliged to do so. None of them appear to have careers - living off us all. (Thank goodness for IDS's reforms). We accept information on intelligence matters from countries who do not adhere to what we expect in dealing with offenders. It is acceptable in some countries to beat people to extract information. It is wrong but who am I to say what is right in another culture. That information protects us all - George Bush has just told us that too. Personally, I do not have difficulties with some forms of interrogation such as water boarding. Sorry - my safety and those of my fellow citizens matter more than those who seek to destroy us. I have never been convinced as to the explanation offered by any detainee as to why they were in the country in which they were detained. I am also sick and tired of their rights being considered more important than my rights to be safe. I am also sick and tired of listening to pious lawyers who represent them. Many of them are just earning huge sums of money from me as a taxpayer.

The UK government has not accepted that our security services did anything wrong despite what Liberty are saying. I was shocked to see their legal adviser refusing to answer the question on Sky News this morning as to why the British Taxpayer is not being told the reasons why those receiving the payout were in the particular country and their link to terrorism. He kept stating that the government acknowledged wrong (it does not)by making the payout. He felt that the matter of terrorism was irrevelant. Quite shocking...

This is a pragmatic decision to cut costs - £5m legal bill each year. (Thank goodness Ken clarke is also reducing legal aid). It also means that our security services can get on with their jobs rather than spend their time preparing documents for Court. I hate the decision but feel the government's hands were tied.

Can we now recover the amount of money we have paid to the recipients in benefits since their release? They will not be entitled to any benefits as some will be millionaires. A horrible day for law abiding British Taxpayers.

Cogito Ergosum

These enemies of the state should have been subject to a Bill of Attainder.

Verity

David DP - "disgraceful practices of torture"? Waterboarding???

Until just recently, American fraternity pledges were going through waterboarding as part of their frat initiation, for God's sake!

Torture? Walking a dog through the prisoners' quarters and letting the dog touch precious islamic legs? Making prisoners wear women's panties and have their photos taken? Ooooh err! Do they know that some men pay good money for this?

OK, I may give them being forced to listen to Paul Abdul at top volume for 24 hours may have been a bit OTT, but these people were enjoying three square meals a day and had exercise yards. Many of them later applied for permission to immigrate to the US. What were they? Masochists or did they have their heads screwed on right?

Did you read at the time that one of the major concerns at Guantanamo was the prisoners' weight? They were gorging on hamburgers. Oh, the cruelty!

And now they're getting "compensation" for living the life of Riley for a few years as a guest of Uncle Sam? I wonder whether leftism is an actual genetic disease?

Verity

Has ever a PM been loathed more quickly by members of his own party than David Cameron? He's only six months into his term and people instinctively shrink away at the mention of his name.

TGF UKIP

No wonder the sods are so certain they're going to win. The West has collapsed, rolled over and we may as well go out and buy a copy of the Koran tomorrow.

What a piss poor bunch of political leaders and judicial system we have.

Verirty

TGF UKIP -Barak Hussein Obama is a muslim.

(Besides Hussein, I wonder how many more islamic names are on his mysteriously missing birth certificate? Mohammad, for example?)

Victor Southern

I don't know whether Verirty @6.24 pm is our very own Verity but it is sad that to see that she has finally cracked and descended into gibbering madness. Outright religious hatred coupled to conspiracy theories? Do they have a local of the Ku Klux Klan in Mexico?

Speechless

Surely it cannot be beyond the wit of the Government to pass an Act preventing any damages claims for these chancers; the Human Rights Act does not (contrary to popular belief) override another Act clearly inconsistent with the HRA. Job done.

Fergus Pickering

normanc, just how is this cock-up young Dave's fault? Do tell me what he should have done? And it is torture, isn't it, whatever American fraternity wotsits do? Mind you, I don't think torture is always so very wrong. Circumstances alter cases. I advise all the human rights chaps to see an excellent Korean film called Lady Vengeance which has a protracted torture scene at the end which we can all enjoy.