US-UK Extradition Treaty

Part of Opposition Day — [16th Allotted Day] – in the House of Commons at 1:43 pm on 15 July 2009.

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Photo of Chris Grayling Chris Grayling Shadow Minister (Home Affairs) 1:43, 15 July 2009

I would love to be able to give my right hon. Friend an answer to that question, but I do not have a clue-it makes no sense to me, and I simply cannot understand the thought processes. I know that the Home Secretary has inherited from his predecessors a pig in a poke, but I cannot understand why reciprocity was not a basic principle of an extradition treaty. It makes no logical sense, and we can see the consequences in the cases I mentioned. I do not seek to comment on the guilt or otherwise of any of those people, but I believe their cases highlight the ways in which current arrangements are rightly subject to criticism and why there is a real need for reform.