Documents have come to light in the wake of Muammer Gaddafi’s dethronement that – if proved genuine – could inculpate the British intelligence services for complicity in abuse and torture of terror suspects at Libyan hands. For both the British people and the intelligence services themselves, it is crucial to establish the truth of and full political accountability for what has or has not been done.

The UK-Libyan intelligence relationship that developed under former prime minister Tony Blair’s entente with Col Gaddafi is well known. But the documents imply a degree of cosiness that contradicts the intelligence services’ defence of their anti-terrorism tactics.

One indicates that MI6 welcomed the opportunity to interrogate Abdul Hakim Belhadj, once a member of a jihadist group and now head of the militia controlling Tripoli, after his illegal rendition to Libya by the US Central Intelligence Agency. Another suggests that the UK mounted its own rendition of Abu Munthir, an alleged plotter of terrorist attacks in the UK, from Hong Kong to Tripoli.