For some years now, the British Government has professed the wrongness of Guantánamo Bay. Tony Blair called it an “anomaly”; others were more forthright. Indeed, the Cuban camp that houses about 250 prisoners, without trial or charges after seven years, is a profound exercise in hypocrisy. The West is here to promote the rule of law, proclaimed George Bush with Mr Blair at his side - but don't ask us to respect it ourselves. Because hypocrisy is the yeast that ferments hatred, the Guantánamo experiment has been a recruiting sergeant for extremism. And so long as the suicide bombers flock to the standard, everyone is a loser.

Britain has a choice: either to help to close the prison or to stand idly by as the endless news coverage of men in orange jumpsuits inflames another tranche of angry youths. The naysayers suggest that bringing some of the prisoners to Britain would be an invitation to dangerous terrorists. With respect, this view is based on a misapprehension of the facts.

I should reveal my own bias: I have visited Guantánamo 22 times, working with the charity Reprieve, to try to reunite scores of prisoners with their legal rights.

So why should the British Government help in this endeavour? First, there is the moral imperative for action. Twelve years ago I voted for Mr Blair too. It is a pity he lost contact with his own moral compass. Britain became complicit in laying the ugly road to Guantánamo. For example, Reprieve represents Binyam Mohamed, a London resident who had to endure two years of torture in Morocco and Afghanistan's “dark prison”. The British security services knew that he had been the subject of extraordinary rendition by the US, but did nothing to help him until ordered to do so by a British court. Binyam remains in Guantánamo today; it is only right that Britain has now called for his return home.

Second, the reality of Guantánamo is very different to Mr Bush's version of events. True, there is a handful of prisoners there who have boasted of terrible crimes, such as masterminding the 9/11 attacks. But Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is going to get an American trial at long last, and he is hardly on the shortlist for transfer to Britain.

Those who believe that Guantánamo Bay is chock-a-block with the worst terrorists in the world have a touching faith in Mr Bush's judgment. More than half of the prisoners there were not seized in Afghanistan at all, let alone “on the battlefield” as Mr Bush assured us - and as The Times repeated in an otherwise admirable editorial two days ago. Rather, they were grabbed in Pakistan and sold to the US for bounty.

There is Ayman al-Shurafa, a Palestinian refugee who has been cleared for release for two years. This means that even the US military has determined that he poses no threat, yet he cannot go home because the Israeli Government will not allow it. Given what is happening in Gaza, perhaps that is not such a bad thing, but those who demonstrated outside the Israeli Embassy in London this week should spend equal time urging Britain to give this harmless young man a home.

Ahmed Bel Bacha is another prisoner who has long since been cleared. He cannot go back to Algeria because his life has been threatened both by the regime (for refusing to serve any longer in a repressive army) and by the Islamic opposition (for being in the military in the first place). Ahmed found a safe haven in Britain for some years. He worked in a Bournemouth hotel, servicing John Prescott's room during the 1999 Labour Party Conference. Perhaps Mr Prescott can give him a reference - after all, he left Ahmed a hefty tip and wrote him an effusive letter of appreciation.

The British are perfectly capable of sorting out which prisoners can safely come here. They could begin by looking at the 60 homeless prisoners whom the US military have found to be no threat to anyone.

Nobody expects the British Government to take dozens of people, but although Mr Bush created many of our problems singlehandedly, the solution calls for communal action. Germany, Portugal and Spain have already stepped forward. But Britain should be a leader among Europeans, rather than the sheep that follows the flock.

I firmly believe that the prisoners whom we have exhaustively investigated represent no danger to Britain. So far, Reprieve has represented 13 people who have been returned to the UK from Guantánamo Bay. Mr Bush said each of them was dangerous. Newspapers howled at the threat posed by their release. Yet several years have gone by and not a misdemeanour has been committed by any of them. Most have quietly got on with their lives - apart from Moazzam Begg, who has published a book and toured the country preaching a sermon of reconciliation and understanding.

There were indications this week that the British Government wants to do the right thing by the Guantánamo prisoners. For this, it should be congratulated rather than condemned.

Clive Stafford Smith has represented a number of Guantánamo prisoners through the legal charity Reprieve.

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