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Police and Justice Bill

I support Amendment No. 186, particularly in the context of the journey that the Minister is about to make to Washington— slightly humiliatingly, it seems to me—to plead for our rights. I do so more generally in real dismay atthe turn that events have taken concerning our arrangements for extradition with the United States. The result of those events is a thoroughly unbalanced, unfair and damaging mess which, to be fair to the Government, they did not intend, but which they certainly ought to have foreseen. The cases of the so-called NatWest Three are emblematic of that mess, but the mess does not originate with them. The detailed and rather technical components that have created this mess have been very fully and clearly explained this evening, and I would do no one any service to try to put a gloss on them. I shall simply say that real damage is being done to relations with our American friends, even though we know that the Bush Administration have pushed hard for ratification. The trouble is that the Senate, particularly those members who have Irish-American votes in their states, sees no practical need now to proceed to ratify the 2003 treaty. The cases of the NatWest Three have rather luridly brought into prominence the unfairness of the situation that obtains, and comparisons are increasingly being made with other instances where American interests have obliterated any evidence of loyalty to a trusted ally. A pattern is being discerned, and it is not a flattering pattern for America. That can only do increasing harm. Therefore, I was delighted to hear that the noble Baroness is being despatched to Washington by the Home Secretary. I agree with what has just been said about the assets that she can bring to any cause. We all have the highest regard for her advocacy, as well as for the charm that she rather unfailing and unfairly brings to bear with it. We wish her luck; I wish her luck at any rate. She will be strengthened and not weakened if this House has shown, at last, that the Brits are not patsies; that they have been taken for a long enough ride; and that they have done what the Americans themselves would have done, and a lot sooner: revoke the designation order. I urge the noble Baroness and those who sit behind her to accept that that is language that the Americans understand and respect. Let it therefore arm her for the fight.