As Muslim cleric Abu Qatada faces trial in Jordan after his deportation to a prison near Amman yesterday (July 7), Home Secretary Theresa May has said that the Government will take steps to remove the “many layers of appeals” available to foreign nationals, in a bid to streamline the process.
Speaking of the deportation, which has been fought bitterly by the cleric’s lawyers since 2005, Mrs May said she has been “as frustrated as the public” about the cost and length of time it has taken to rid the UK of Abu Qatada. It was revealed recently that his legal aid costs amounted to almost £650,000, while Home Office legal costs rose to more than £1m.
She added that the Government needs to “make sense of our human rights laws,” so is taking steps, including through the new Immigration Bill, to “put this right.”
Mrs May said that changes to the Bill would affect cases like this one and also those in which people facing deportation claim that they have a right to respect for their private and family life in the UK, as set out in article eight of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).
The Home Secretary added that she hoped to reform the Convention, and would not rule out the possibility of the UK withdrawing from it altogether, adding, “nothing is off the table”.
Mrs May said that she will be proposing reforms to the Bill in the autumn and restricting appeals linked to the right to family life in the ECHR, while work is apparently also underway on a British Bill of Rights for inclusion in the Conservative manifesto, which could pave the way for UK withdrawal from the Convention.