EU debate: Putting ideology first and safety last

Home Secretary Theresa May

Every time we try to make the case for the European arrest warrant (EAW) and other tools against crime subject to a bogus repatriation of powers being pushed by the Home Secretary, the first thing our Eurosceptic opponents do is call us mad Europhiles.

This is not about Europe. It’s about law and order.

The Conservative half of the Coalition is pushing to abandon the EAW and other measures vital to policing and justice in the UK.

Clearly, the Conservatives are no longer the party of law and order. First they cut policing budgets, then their flagship policy of introducing Police and Crime Commissioners is exposed as a dud, and now they are actively trying to abandon measures that have, for example, broken up international paedophile rings, arrested terror suspects and allowed us to deport foreign criminals.

In the 21st century, crime crosses borders, justice should too. You would think a party that believes in law and order would appreciate that.

As I write this piece, Danny Alexander, on behalf of the Lib Dems, and Oliver Letwin, on behalf of the Conservatives, are in the middle of discussions on which crime-fighting measures we share with other EU countries should stay and which should go – out of a list of 133 measures.

Our case is simple: abandon the measures our law and order practitioners have at their disposal, and we will be giving criminals a head start to stay in this country unchallenged, commit new offences, and hide from the law.

So calling us mad Europhiles won’t stick. Major Conservative Party donor Lord Ashcroft’s own charity, Crimestoppers, makes use of the European arrest warrant, joint investigation teams, cooperation with Europol and Eurojust to aid in the fight against cross-border crime. This is about the practicalities of fighting crime, and putting the safety of British citizens, not ideology, first.

Despite the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the Director of Public Prosecutions, Keir Starmer, the Law Society, Bar Council – and others who deal with criminals, their actions and punishment every day – having opposed the abandonment of a sizeable list of specific measures that are of great importance to fight crime in this country, it seems the Conservatives continue to put pressure on their coalition partners to abandon tools such as DNA-sharing, criminal records-sharing, and more importantly, the EAW.

One of the biggest fears Ukip has consistently encouraged in the British public is that of uncontrolled immigration. But the reality is, with or without a free movement of people in the EU, criminals will continue to slip in and out of our borders unnoticed, and we will be less able to deal with their presence or bring them back here to face justice.

It was only just over a decade ago that British criminals piled in Costa del Sol, making it Costa del Crime, because they knew Spanish authorities could not extradite them. The reason being that our criminal justice systems are so different, that we could not overcome those barriers and operate swift extradition from one state to another.

Take the high-profile example of a non-EU criminal, Abu Qatada. Everybody is witnessing the Home Secretary Theresa May’s struggle to extradite Qatada from the UK. She has had to negotiate a new extradition treaty with Jordan. Imagine if she had to do that with every single EU member state. She could attempt to do it, but would stumble upon the problems we used to have with Spain, Gibraltar and others before the EAW solved them.

When May gave evidence to a recent House of Lords inquiry into this opt out,  she persistently focused on the negatives of the EAW – even though there is a general sense that a lot of work is being done to address the issues flagged up by charities such as Justice and Fair Trials International. Both charities, by the way, do not agree that abandoning the EAW is the right approach to its shortcomings.

Equally, the Lord Chancellor, Chris Grayling, told the House of Lords of a plot to harmonise EU criminal law and steal our sovereignty from our hands while we watch helplessly. He should be reminded that there is no intention or plan to harmonise a system that currently operates on mutual recognition of different criminal law systems, and does so very well.

The conclusion to be drawn from this is that we are looking at this issue through a pragmatic prism – remove that cooperation and it will become significantly harder to fight cross-border, organised crime. Which, we should remember, can and does involve smuggling illegal immigrants into the UK, trafficking of adults and children for sexual purposes, European-wide paedophile rings, and terrorism.

Even if the UK public manifests a desire to exit the EU, that could not feasibly happen before 2020. The EU criminal law opt out, if it happens, will come into force in December 2014. Meanwhile, we will continue to have heaps of people moving from one country to another, including many criminals, but we will have abandoned the ability to deal with them. It makes no sense whatsoever that British people should be exposed to criminality in such a way.

Those who label themselves Eurosceptics, however, are only concerned about perpetuating the myth that if we continue to cooperate with other EU member states on this we will lose our sovereignty. They also tend to reduce anybody else who speaks out against them to EU-loving people with no critical sense.

All we are trying to do is call on this government to have sense, continue to work to protect British people, and show it is serious about law and order. We will leave the Europhobes vs Europhiles argument to those who put ideology first.

We urge Theresa May to think of Abu Qatada before ditching EAW

Statement from Justice Across Borders:

“Thousands of wanted and convicted foreign criminals have been swiftly deported from the UK using European arrest warrants since 2003.

“Justice Across Borders would like to urge the Home Secretary to consider the trouble she has been going through to deport Abu Qatada back to Jordan, and reconsider her intention to opt out of the European arrest warrant under the 2014 criminal law opt out.

“If the UK were to opt out of the EAW, instead of only one, we would have thousands of ‘Abu Qatadas’ in this country carrying on lengthy fights against extradition.”

Theresa May lays out welcome mat for the new Costa del Crime

Justice Across Borders is launching a new campaign today (March 8) to highlight how the Home Secretary intends to turn the UK into a safe haven for foreign criminals – a new Costa del Crime.

The campaigning group believes Theresa May will deny justice to victims of crime abroad if the Government pulls out of vital EU-wide police and justice cooperation measures.

As a result of pre-Lisbon Treaty negotiations, the UK is the only EU member state able to withdraw from over 130 EU cross-border policing and crime instruments such as the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) and organisations such as Eurojust and Europol. Last October, Home Secretary Theresa May told Parliament that the UK was “minded” to exercise the opt-out.

Justice Across Borders is now calling on the public to send our Costa del Crime postcards to their MPs and urge them to oppose the opt-out. They can also support the campaign by signing the e-petition launched yesterday.

Last month, the UK was the first country to seek the assistance of Europol when Eurosceptic Environment Minister Owen Patterson called on the agency to investigate the criminal activity responsible for the horsemeat scandal that has affected millions, showing its undeniable importance to our country.

Since its inception, Justice Across Borders has attracted the support of the Deputy Prime Minister: after meeting with a coalition of campaigners comprised of Maggie Hughes, mother of former footballer Robbie Hughes who was the victim of a serious crime in Greece, former Crime Watch presenter Nick Ross, Justice Across Borders, Anti-Slavery International and ECPAT UK, Mr Clegg reiterated warnings from the police that Britain could turn into a ‘safe haven’ for criminals.

Nick Clegg said, 
“While some measures of European co-operation on crime are old, out of date or defunct, the police and other law enforcement agencies consistently tell us that other measures are essential for our national security and public safety. The European Arrest Warrant is one of those key measures. Without it, victims of crime like Maggie may never have seen those who beat her son nearly to death brought to justice, and as the police say, without it Britain could become a safe haven for Europe’s criminals.”

The leader of the Labour party, Ed Miliband, has also agreed to meet the campaign and listen to the concerns of victims and NGOs.

Director of Justice Across Borders Thais Portilho-Shrimpton said: “If Theresa May ignores the dire warnings of police and prosecutors and pulls out of Europol and the European Arrest Warrant, then she may as well lay out the welcome mat for foreign criminals and welcome them to the new Costa del Crime.”

From 2010 to 2011, UK police received 5382 requests under the EAW*, of which 1149 people were extradited to the relevant EU member state to face justice. Without the European Arrest Warrant, there is no automatic obligation on the UK to extradite. Before the EAW was introduced in 2004, the extradition process took an average of one year. It now takes 16 days if the suspect agrees to surrender and 48 days if the suspect does not agree to surrender.

*EAW statistics from ACPO

Download your Costa del Crime postcard here: CdCpostcard1

Contact: Thais Portilho-Shrimpton 07584 995 681 campaign@justiceacrossborders.org

Clegg backs our crime and justice campaign

The UK’s ability to fight crime at home and abroad is under threat, warned campaigners who today (4 March) secured backing from Deputy Prime Minister and Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg in their bid to protect vital EU-wide justice measures such as the European Arrest Warrant, Europol, and Eurojust.
The coalition of campaigners comprises Justice Across Borders, Maggie Hughes, mother of former footballer Robbie Hughes who was the victim of a serious crime in Greece, former Crime Watch presenter Nick Ross, Anti-Slavery International and ECPAT UK.

Last October, Home Secretary Theresa May told Parliament that the UK was “minded” to opt-out of and abandon dozens of EU cross-border policing and crime measures such as Europol and the European Arrest Warrant. Since then, dozens of law and crime-fighting experts have given evidence to a House of Lords inquiry opposing the Home Secretary’s opt-out intentions.

The Deputy Prime Minister reiterated warnings from the police that Britain could turn into a ‘safe haven’ for criminals. In his statement Nick Clegg said,

“While some measures of European co-operation on crime are old, out of date or defunct, the police and other law enforcement agencies consistently tell us that other measures are essential for our national security and public safety. The European Arrest Warrant is one of those key measures. Without it, victims of crime like Maggie may never have seen those who beat her son nearly to death brought to justice, and as the police say, without it Britain could become a safe haven for Europe’s criminals.

Justice Across Borders, Maggie Hughes, mother of former footballer Robbie Hughes who was the victim of a serious crime in Greece, former Crime Watch presenter Nick Ross, Director of Anti-Slavery International Aidan McQuade, and Deputy Director of ECPAT UK Colin Walker issued the following joint statement.

“We were pleased the Deputy Prime Minister signaled today his unequivocal support for the tough measures that are proven to be so effective in tackling international crime, such as the European arrest warrant. Victims and potential victims of human trafficking, and child trafficking would be increasingly vulnerable should the government choose to abandon cooperation with our European partners and agencies, such as Europol.”

“We must beware of those who are being soft on crime by pushing for this opt-out purely on ideological reasons.”
Sutton mother Maggie Hughes has been campaigning for rights for victims of crime abroad after her son, former footballer Robbie Hughes, was brutally attacked in Greece. Robbie’s assailants, four British holidaymakers, were finally forced to face trial in Greece after an European Arrest Warrant was issued and they were convicted of grievous bodily harm in November 2012.

Maggie Hughes said, “We need to keep what we’ve already got, because without the European arrest warrant we may never have got the suspects back to Greece and justice for Robbie. My son’s ability and other people’s children’s ability to get justice should not be threatened by ideological battles in Westminster. No one has told me what the good reasons are to pull out of this cooperation, and Mr Clegg agreed we must protect the EAW and other important measures.”

Aidan McQuade, Director of Anti-Slavery International added, “Trafficking of human beings is a transnational issue, therefore the measures to tackle it must also be transnational. Opting out of European measures would affect British citizens. We have already seen vulnerable British people trafficked out of Britain to other parts of Europe. An opt out will result in decreased ability to combat this serious crime and will place Britain in a weak position in the face of the problems that the globalising world presents.”

Colin Walker, Deputy Director of ECPAT UK, which campaigns against child sexual exploitation and trafficking, said, “Many of these EU policing and criminal justice measures are absolutely crucial in the fight against child trafficking and child sexual exploitation by sex offenders. If the Government decides to opt out, it will undermine the UK’s ability to work effectively with our international partners to tackle these cross-border crimes. Opting out will put the criminals in charge and put at risk children at home and abroad.”

Justice Across Borders Director Thais Portilho-Shrimpton said, “The Deputy Prime Minister certainly understands what is at stake. He knows that if the UK withdraws from the European Arrest Warrant, we could turn into the new Costa del Crime.”

ENDS

Above photo (left to right) is of Aidan McQuade, Thais Portilho-Shrimpton, Maggie Hughes, Rt Hon Nick Clegg MP, Nick Ross and Colin Walker.

Photo credit to Cabinet Office (Crown Copyright)

Media queries to Hong Dyer on +44 776 999 1800 or media@justiceacrossborders.org

Statement following meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg

Justice Across Borders, the mother of a victim of crime abroad, Maggie Hughes, Anti-Slavery International, ECPAT UK, former Crime Watch presenter Nick Ross attended a meeting with Nick Clegg this afternoon (March 4), to urge him to protect vital measures of EU criminal law cooperation.

Joint statement from Justice Across Borders, Anti-Slavery International, ECPAT UK and former Crime Watch presenter Nick Ross:

“We were pleased the Deputy Prime Minister signalled today his unequivocal support for the tough measures that are proven to be so effective in tackling international crime, such as the European arrest warrant.

“Victims and potential victims of human trafficking, and child trafficking would be increasingly vulnerable should the government choose to abandon cooperation with our European partners and agencies, such as Europol.”

“We must beware of those who are being soft on crime by pushing for this opt-out purely on ideological reasons.”

Maggie Hughes said: “We need to keep what we’ve already got, because without the European arrest warrant we may never have got the suspects back to Greece and justice for Robbie.

“My son’s ability and other people’s children’s ability to get justice should not be threatened by ideological battles in Westminster.

“No one has told me what the good reasons are to pull out of this cooperation, and Mr Clegg agreed we must protect the EAW and other important measures.”

Justice Across Borders statement on Europol probe into EU horsemeat scandal

Justice Across Borders welcomes the news that Europol will be investigating the horsemeat scandal.

“Europol will coordinate police forces across Europe to investigate what could be a massive-scale fraud affecting several EU member states and their citizens. If we abandon criminal law cooperation with the EU, we will be unable to participate in these investigations.

The Home Secretary and the Justice Secretary are due to appear tomorrow before the House of Lords inquiry into the 2014 Opt-Out. We urge the Committee to ask the Ministers what they plan to do the next time we have an EU-wide scandal if the UK were to opt-out of Europol and the European Arrest Warrant?”

ENDS

Media queries to Hong Dyer on +44 776 999 1800 or media@justiceacrossborders.org

Justice Across Borders statement on football match-fixing scandal

Statement from Justice Across Borders on the football match-fixing scandal uncovered by Europol involving 380 games played across 15 different countries and 425 players, officials and other individuals suspected of being involved in an organised crime syndicate.

“The Europol investigation is proof that only EU-wide cooperation can tackle crimes of this magnitude and bring the perpetrators to book. The Home Secretary will no doubt follow this case closely. She would be kneecapping our country’s ability to fight international crime if the UK abandons EU police and judicial co-operation laws.”

Justice Across Borders is a cross-party, independent campaign set up to stop the UK Government from opting out of crucial EU criminal law cooperation.

ENDS

Response to Ken Clarke’s Today Programme opt out announcement

Statement from Justice Across Borders:

“We find it unsettling that Ken Clarke has announced a decision has been made to opt out of EU criminal law measures and on how many measures the UK government will opt back into. According to the Home
Office, the decision to opt out and opt back in will be taken to a vote in both Houses first, and the Home Secretary has given an undertaking to an inquiry being conducted by the House of Lords EU committee that no vote will take place on this matter until the inquiry has reported.”

Justice Across Borders evidence to Lords inquiry

Director Thais Portilho-Shrimpton and Trustee Jeremy Hill have given evidence to the House of Lords EU sub-committees E & F inquiry into the UK’s 2014 Opt-out Decision (Protocol 36) yesterday.

Our reaction to the Prime Minister’s EU speech

Prime Minister David Cameron gave his speech on the EU earlier today.  You can watch it or read it here

Reaction from Justice Across Borders:

“We are disappointed the Prime Minister did not mention the issue of a potential decision to opt out of EU criminal law, due in the next few months, considering it is set to be the first step in the ‘repatriation of powers’ mentioned in his speech.

“Justice Across Borders finds it incomprehensible that the British public should not be consulted on a crucial decision that could have a major impact on their safety, and we call on the Prime Minister and UK Government to reconsider their intention to opt out, and wait to reform this area until after the EU referendum.”