Torture: will Hague's Inquiry amount to more than a row of beans?

Here's a turnup for the books: Young Willie Hague orders torture claims Inquiry.  Blimey. Surely that militates against national security? How dare the Government challenge the right of the "intelligence" services to do what they bloody well please?

Before anyone begins to incubate the idea that this Government will change things, remember the famous "Ethical Dimension in Foreign Policy that Robin Cook put out four days after Labour's accession to office. Hague has yet to be advised by the Civil Service on the terms of the inquiry, and on picking the right judge. "Right" being the operative word. The judge has yet to be instructed on his (and I use the word advisedly) conclusions.

Still, the fact that the inquiry is happening does show that changing the party/parties in power does change things, in the sense that fitting a spoiler to the boot of your car does make it seem to go faster.

OK, I am cynical. Cynicism is a kind of  insurance policy. If the inquiry is a whitewash, I am proved right. If not, I am wrong, but we Britain will regain a blim of integrity.