Europhobic and hard on crime - two unmistakable traits of the Conservative Party. But only one of them remains true to their DNA.
Home Secretary Theresa May announced to the House of Commons on 15 October that the UK Government intends to pull out of the EU’s Justice and Home Affairs laws which for many years have served Scotland well. The 133 pieces of legislation include the European Arrest Warrant (EWA), a system that requires EU Member States to arrest and extradite a criminal suspect (or sentenced person) to the issuing state to face trial.
The Lisbon Treaty gives the UK the opportunity, if it wishes, to opt-out of the legislation before 2014 – a concession agreed by the previous Labour Government. London would be allowed to opt back in at a later stage but only with the agreement of Europe’s capitals. Needless to say Theresa May isn’t thinking twice about “repatriating powers from Brussels”. But in doing so she will exclude Scotland and the UK from the only effective tool we have to combat cross-border crime, human trafficking, drug trafficking and money-laundering which costs the country £billions each year.
Yesterday in Holyrood Kenny MacAskill revealed that since 2004 between 60 and 70 criminals were brought back to Scotland through EAW. In answering a parliamentary question he stated that "the attitudes and actions of the UK Government towards Europe are jeopardising the administration of justice in Scotland”.
Indeed ‘transnational criminals’ would welcome Theresa May’s proposals with open arms. What are the odds of the UK becoming a gangster safe-haven with no laws to force London to extradite these criminals back to their home countries? The UK Government would have to establish individual bilateral agreements with EU Member States on crime prevention. Why bother, when a system that works already exists?
It’s called Europhobia. It’s so blinding they’re ignoring the number of recent high profile cases that have been resolved through EAW. Only last month the Sussex maths teacher who disappeared after travelling to France with a teenage schoolgirl was extradited back to England thanks to European Arrest Warrant.
Or what about the London bombings terrorist Hussain Osmain who would have taken advantage of the Italian legal system to stay in Rome and avoid extradition to the UK if the warrant didn’t apply to Britain.
Before the EAW was created in 2004 criminals were able to avoid extradition and face justice, such as Islamic terrorist Rachid Ramda – the mastermind behind the 1995 Paris metro bombings who was only handed over to Paris 10 years later.
Despite the unquestionable success of EAW the Tories argue it isn’t serving Britain well. They point to countries like Poland which use the system disproportionately. Indeed, Poland has become notorious for abusing the legislation by issuing warrants to bicycle thieves and other low-level criminals. In 2009 Warsaw issued 4,844 warrants compared to London’s 220. This is partly due to the fact that Poland has no prosecutorial discretion. They must therefore pursue all suspects on a “no evidence required” basis regardless of the severity of the crime.
The Tories argue that this “abuse” of the system is costly and prevents British police officers from focusing on more serious crime. They have a point. But the solution is to reform the system – not pull out of it. Introducing a ‘proportionality test’ to the legislation and raising the threshold so that only the most serious criminal cases are covered is the most obvious way forward.
Negotiation however, is where the Tories struggle. Europe is all about bargaining and sussing out your allies. The more friends you have around the table the greater the chances of getting what you want. But the Tories have been alienating themselves and alienating Scotland. It’s a one-way war of words across the English Channel with Westminster threatening vetoes and opt-outs at every turn.
Is the Home Secretary so naïve to believe that the other 26 capitals would allow London to opt back into the legislation at a later date without asking for some sort of concession? If I were Bucharest or Sofia I’d be demanding the UK loosened restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian nationals working in the UK.
It once again shows why Scotland needs independence in Europe. The disintegrating relationship between London and Brussels is damaging. Instead of putting Scots at risk of criminals, sex offenders and terrorists the Tories should be at the heart of European decision-making, working constructively with our neighbours to improve the current set-up and leading the way on reforms. They’d rather throw their toys out of the pram and pander to their backbenches.
And how ironic that non-EU countries such as Norway and Iceland take part in European Arrest Warrant legislation. These countries go even further – they’re full members of Schengen!
Theresa May’s motivations couldn’t be clearer. This opt-out will be the first opportunity London has to repatriate laws to Britain. Would they ever miss such an opportunity? No matter how successful or useful these trafficking laws may be –Theresa May would rather compromise the safety of Scottish families in the name of euroscepticism. Whatever happened to that party “hard on crime”?
