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Russia

As always, my hon. Friend makes an excellent point. I would add that we should put the shoe on the other foot. If the United Kingdom was in the same position, would we change our constitution over a murder suspect? I suspect not. Of course, there is also a big difference because we do not have a written constitution, whereas the Russians do. That is an important legal point that follows on from the comments of the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant). I shall return to Russian political dissidents and one gentleman in particular living in London for whom, in the last 10 days, I understand, an arrest warrant has been issued by a Brazilian judge over allegations of money laundering and other crimes. Will the Minister put on the record whether a formal extradition request has been made by the Brazilian authorities for Mr. Berezovsky? It would, again, seem contradictory if the UK Government said no, at the same time as asking for the extradition of Mr. Lugovoy from Russia. I hope that if that request has or is to arrive, the UK Government will assist our close ally and friend, Brazil, with its extradition request. I think that that would be very helpful because it would send out a clear message that the British public are sick and tired of having to pay for the cover of many of these people. We have heard about close protection. Forgive me for raising quite a few questions, but will the Minister tell us who is paying for the close protection of those whose lives are apparently under threat? Is it the British taxpayer or the individuals themselves? My constituents in Shropshire are more interested in protecting their streets and their homes from burglars, than in paying for the close police protection of political dissidents who perhaps could be a little more circumspect in what they say. I think that it would be rather surprising, given the scarce resources of the Metropolitan police, to find that armed, or even unarmed, protection is being given to such people. I hope that soon we can find a third or middle way to deal with Mr. Lugovoy—the main suspect in the Litvinenko case. That is how I started today and it remains my position. What about having a court in Russia, with a Russian, British and an independent third-country judge? Or what about a court hearing in a third country, again with a Russian, UK and an independent judge? A range of options are available that might allow someone to be brought to justice for this very vicious and cruel crime and provide the Russian Government with a way of getting round the legal point on the constitution. I hope that the Minister will comment on that.