Shot man's family to visit station

I am sure we all feel for the de Menezes family as they visit London, both to visit the place where their son was shot and to hear from the Independent Police Complaints Authority as to the evidence it has gathered so far.

It is interesting that that IPCC says it cannot release all the evidence. It gives two reasons. One is that it does not want to prejudice future legal action. It is hard to see how it can disclose anything at all which will not do that. One of the main arguments against an enquiry like this is that it inevitably prejudices any proceedings.

Secondly, it says there is information which cannot be released on the grounds of "national security". That is very curious. The shooting took place in a public place. The essential facts are known. The investigation is really about the intent of the officers concerned and their justification for what they did, not about their actions.

Unless the IPCC proposes to conceal the identity of the killers, the intelligence on which they acted or the orders they were given, it is hard to see what else can be hidden. If it withhold that information, the conversationwith Jean de Menezes' family may be a little short.

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