Appeal refused

T HE 16th century Mary I of England said that the name of Calais, after its loss to the French, would “be written on my heart”. Theresa May, today's Home Secretary, must be beginning to feel the same about the name of Abu Qutada, the radical Muslim cleric whose deportation from Britain to Jordan to stand trial there continues to be blocked by international and UK law. Mrs May took yet another legal rebuff on Tuesday when the Court of Appeal refused her permission to appeal to the Supreme Court. The sticking point is Qutada's insistence that evidence against him in Jordan has been obtained by torture and that therefore he cannot expect to get a fair trial. The European Court of Human Rights has accepted his claim as have several levels of UK justice. There were reports yesterday that Britain might consider temporarily suspending its recognition of the Convention of Human Rights in order to be free to deport Qutada -- a process that is permitted in the case of extreme national need, but the cleric's deportation hardly comes into that category.

Instead Theresa May said: “If Britain ignores its obligations under international law it would not be able to rely on other countries obligations to us” -- an important statement that should put a stop to some of the Conservative hothead MPs who want Britain to deport Qutada without due process.