Clause 1 - Extradition to category 1 territories
Extradition Bill
5:00 pm
Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)
I do not want to give the hon. Gentleman the impression that I am against the expansion of the EU. Far from it. I am simply pointing out and I should have thought that he would be concerned about it on behalf of his constituents, that some of the countries that may be joining the EU simply do not have our traditions of the protection of the subject. Throughout my ten and a half years in the House and for many years before that, I have known that Labour Members are concerned about civil liberties and the freedom of the individual. That is quite right. If they are so concerned, they should consider having proper parliamentary scrutiny over which countries will be allowed to operate the provisions before us.
It would be quite different if we were talking only about terrorists. The threat from terrorism is so exceptional that one could just about accept draconian powers. But we are faced with a vast undefined list of vague offences. There are 32 categories of offence, many of which are not offences under UK law, and we are talking about courts that have no tradition of the protection of the subject. I am sure that if the hon. Gentleman asked his constituents, he would find that they share our concerns.