When Theresa May makes her statement on Abu Qatada to MPs today, she will be expected to give further details on plans reportedly mooted by the Prime Minister to temporarily withdraw Britain from the European Convention on Human Rights. This is a high-risk strategy for two reasons. The first is that by so clearly involving himself in the process, the Prime Minister risks being damaged by the fallout from another failed attempt to get Qatada out. The second is that a temporary withdrawal from the Convention, even to remove a hate preacher than all agree should have left this country long ago, will send Cameron’s Liberal Democrat coalition partners into orbit. The PM held a meeting with May, Justice Secretary Chris Grayling and the Attorney General Dominic Grieve yesterday. But though Nick Clegg has himself promised that Qatada will be deported, he will also have plenty to say about this latest plan.
More broadly, Tory MPs are now waiting on the government to introduce primary legislation on the deportation of foreign criminals. Backbenchers tried – and were infuriated when this attempt failed – to vote through an amendment exempting foreign criminals from the right to family life so that only their right to life and the prohibition of torture applied to their attempts to block deportation. These moves are not related to the Qatada case. But the party is, in general, very keen to see legislation on deportation. Indeed, in a letter to MPs in March, the Home Secretary wrote:
‘At present, when considering deportation cases, under the terms of the UK Borders Act 2007, the Government and the courts have to consider the rights of the subject as set out in the articles of the European Convention on Human Rights. This means, for example, that foreign criminals can claim the right to a family life under Article Eight of the Convention to escape deportation.
‘It was for this reason that the Government changed the immigration rules last July – with the unanimous support of the House of Commons. Those new rules seek to ensure that the right to a family life is balanced against the rights of society as a whole. Unfortunately, some immigration judges are not paying heed to those new rules in the way the government and parliament intended, and that is why the Prime Minister and I have said we will bring forward primary legislation to put the overall approach to article eight in immigration cases beyond doubt.’
Tory MPs are now expecting deportation to feature in the Queen’s Speech in one way or another. Whether May and Cameron can produce this and succeed in their plans to finally deport Qatada to Jordan depends on their current relations with their coalition partners. And if they find they cannot, their backbenchers will surely blame the Lib Dems for appearing to block these changes.
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