American intelligence has begun "cutting back" on material provided to British agencies over fears information could be compromised in UK courts, Kenneth Clarke has said. | US security services had become "extremely cautious" when dealing with Britain on the basis that shared national secrets risked being made public in open hearings. |
Mr Clarke made his comments following continued criticism over controversial plans by the Coalition government to hold court cases and inquests behind closed doors.
A cross-party group of peers and MPs has today attacked his proposals for so-called secret justice claiming the system would be "inherently unfair" and was based on "spurious assertions".
Speaking this morning on the BBC's Today programme, Mr Clarke refuted the suggestion that plans to allow spies to give evidence in camera to protect national security was the result of "immense American pressure" being exerted.
However, he agreed that a decision to disclose US intelligence during the case of UK resident Binyam Mohamed had led to a lessening of cooperation between the two countries. In 2008 Mr Mohamed took the British government to court to secure the release of documents relating to his detention in Guantanamo Bay prison between 2004 and 2009.