Kenneth Clarke has been accused of making "inaccurate and misleading" claims about the government's secret courts bill, which is designed to protect secret intelligence.
In an intensification of Labour's attack on the justice and security bill, which will restrict access to some sensitive intelligence, the shadow justice secretary Sadiq Khan accuses Clarke of misrepresenting it.
Clarke retained responsibility for the controversial bill when he was demoted from his post as justice secretary to minister without portfolio in the reshuffle.
The former home secretary described critics of Closed Material Procedure (CMP) in a Guardian article in September as "reactionary parts of the human rights lobby". Clarke defends his plans, which would restrict access to some sensitive intelligence to the judge, but not by claimants or their lawyers, on the grounds that it would allow more cases to proceed. He says that at the moment many trials cannot go ahead because some intelligence cannot be heard in open court.
The bill was drawn up after the public airing of evidence during litigation brought on behalf of Binyam Mohamed and other former Guantánamo Bay detainees. The court of appeal agreed to disclose CIA information which showed MI5 and MI6 knew Mohamed, a UK resident, had been abused.
Khan has stepped up his criticism of the government after Clarke dismissed his concerns, which the shadow justice secretary had outlined in a letter. Khan writes: "I believe your letter contains a number of misleading statements about how your proposals to introduce secret courts into our civil justice system will operate in practice."
In his letter to Clarke, the shadow justice secretary addresses what he calls "inaccurate and misleading" claims. Khan says Clarke:
• Wrongly claims that he is creating a judge-led process in which judges will have complete freedom to rule whether a case should be designated as CMP. Khan says that the judge's discretion would be fettered to such an extent that it would be "a judicial decision in name only".
• Has failed to provide evidence to support his contention that cases are collapsing because some secret intelligence cannot be shown to the court at all.
Khan said to Clarke: "I do not believe the government has made the case that this fundamental change in our civil justice system is justified. And, even if this case had been made, the proposals in the justice and security bill on CMPs represent a considerable concentration of power in the hands of government ministers to keep material secret without any of the necessary checks and balances.
"I am also disappointed that you have chosen to misrepresent the contents of your own bill which risks confusing a crucial debate involving highly sensitive issues. Defending your introduction of secret courts by repeatedly describing yourself as a liberal does not detract from the concerns many have with this bill."
