Police and Justice Bill

I shall speak briefly and in general terms to support the amendment to which I have added my name. The mounting concern in the country about the consequences of the Extradition Act will be apparent to anyone who reads the press, watches television or listens to the radio. The salient points have been made repeatedly today and, if I may say so, in a particularly masterly fashion, by the noble Lords, Lord Kingsland and Lord Goodhart. Accordingly, I do not intend to dwell on the technicalities or to refer to individual cases, however heartrending and disturbing they may be. In any event they have been, or will be, covered by more authoritative voices. However, as I said at Second Reading, I, and I suspect many others, backed the main thrust of the proposals some two and a half years ago as a necessary tool in the fight against terrorism—a cause to which we would all gladly subscribe. Looking back, I freely admit that I may have been naïve, certainly unimaginative, about the possible consequences, particularly now in view of the fact that in the succeeding months the number of extradition requests involving so-called white-collar cases has greatly exceeded those of a terrorist nature. Since the Bill was passed, some voices have been consistently raised against the way things were going, including that of the noble Baroness, Lady Anelayof St Johns, and, in particular—I apologise if I embarrass him; I am sure that he is not normally embarrassed by such comments—the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, who has pursued this hare like the legal terrier that he is. More recently, the Daily Telegraph has mounted an admirable campaign, highlighting the circumstances surrounding the so-called NatWest Three. All these have made an honourable contribution to the fight to right inept and ill thought-out legislation. The principle of reciprocity in extradition seems such a basic requirement that any Government conscious of their responsibility to their citizens would put it at the top of their wish list in any negotiations with another power, however friendly that power might be. Yet this Government have entered into a treaty with the United States where such reciprocity appears to be but a distant aspiration. This is recklessness and irresponsibility towards their citizens on a large scale and is in contrast to the safeguards in other European countries which as a matter of course extend protection to their citizens. I wish the Minister Godspeed in her flight to Capitol Hill. I am sure that if charm and palpable decency were all, her task with the Senate would be as good as won; but I fear that American politics are not like that, especially in an election year. There seems to be general agreement on the two principal reasons standing in the way of US reciprocity. First, it is alleged that the Irish-American lobby is vigorously opposing implementation for fear that we shall seek the extradition of various IRA fugitives from justice, some of whom are thought to be responsible for very serious crimes indeed. Such a reason is contemptible and really not worthy of a great democracy. I am more sympathetic to the second reason: that this country is at times dilatory in its prosecution of white-collar crimes, that the prosecutions and trials take too long, and that the sentences often do not reflect the seriousness of the offences. If that is so—and I do not suggest that it is necessarily the case—surely the answer lies in looking to our own arrangements and revising them if necessary, not in providing excuses for other countries, however friendly, to take unacceptable, unilateral steps of their own. Perhaps the Committee will allow me to make two more observations. The recent trend of the United States becoming the universal nanny, with FBI agents having almost unlimited powers of arrest, seems to be a disturbing development and one which, in the context of this treaty, will have and is beginning to have the most serious implications for the British business community and British industry. I say that as a lifelong admirer and supporter of the USA. Finally, if I could be presumptuous enough to give some homely—one might almost say ““good old boy””—advice to the Government, it would be this: I believe that Americans have long respected and admired independence of spirit and standing up for fairness and equality, and signing up to ““I surrender; do what you like with me”” legislation is not ultimately the way to their hearts.