Ahead of Tony Blair’s last visit to Washington as Prime Minister, Liberal Democrat Leader Ming Campbell said that the uncritical relationship between the Prime Minister and President had resulted in untold damage to our reputation at home and abroad.
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Ming Campbell discusses his concerns with the unfair US/UK extradition treaty, as raised with (but not addressed by) the Prime Minister at Question Time on Wednesday.
July 13th 2006: Ming Campbell delivers speech at the Tom Paine Festival in Lewes:
“A Liberal Britain in a Liberal World”
The issue I wish to address today is how Britain’s place in the world, is intimately linked, with how we uphold our democratic values here at home.
Foreign policy should not be about either permanent friends or permanent interests. Instead it should be based on and conducted against the backdrop of permanent values.
How we act as a nation domestically to tackle threats that have international reach, such as terrorism, has a decisive impact on how we are perceived abroad. This can support or undermine our attempts to influence others.
At Prime Minister’s Questions today, Liberal Democrat Leader, Ming Campbell MP called for reciprocity in the extradition treaty between Britain and the United States, asking whether the Prime Minister felt it was fair that British citizens can be extradited to the United States without a prima facie case and under a treaty the United States declines to ratify.
The Prime Minister said he understood the concerns of the families involved, but claimed it was not true that United States has been given preferential treatment.
Although the Prime Minister denies that ‘arrangements in respect of evidence are not reciprocal’ different rules have applied as between the US and UK since the coming into force of a Government Order on 1 January 2004. If the UK requests the extradition of an individual from the US, the request must be supported by additional evidence that would justify his committal for trial if the offence had been committed in the US. There is no such requirement for extradition the other way round.
