Schedule 12 - Extradition
Police and Justice Bill
4:15 pm
Hazel Blears (Minister of State (Policing, Security and Community Safety), Home Office; Salford, Labour)
Thank you, Mr. Pope. I shall come to the question of balance. My point about the other jurisdictions to which the hon. Member for Arundel and South Downs has not responded was that they also now face a requirement to show sufficient information to enable us to issue an arrest warrant. We have changed our position in relation to those countries in exactly the same way that we have changed our position in relation to the United States of America, and I hear no concern about those jurisdictions. Therefore I must conclude, if hon. Members do not tell me otherwise, that they are concerned about the ability of the United States’ legal system to give people a fair trial when they pitch up in America on extradition. If that is so, we are saying that we do not trust a modern democracy with a robust legal system. If that is the position of the Conservative party we are entitled to know.