After Abu Qatada

It has been a mixed news day so far as Britain’s relationship with the ECHR is concerned. There’s been the good stuff: Abu Qatada has been arrested and is set to be deported, with the government now confident that he can be shipped to Jordan without provoking the ire of Europe’s legal class. And then there has been the less than good stuff: according to the Times, which has a leaked document in its possession, Britain’s official proposals for reforming the ECHR have been diluted ahead of the Council of Europe meeting in Brighton this week. This outcome, as I suggested back in February, is hardly surprising — but it could nonetheless make life a little bit more difficult for David Cameron. After the recent murmurings of his backbenchers, he might have enjoyed an opportunity to really sock it to the Continent.

It is the Qatada news, though, that will dominate the headlines, not the ECHR reforms. And one question already seems to have glided to the fore: how long until he goes? The government are talking about ‘due process’ and warning that it could take months. But Theresa May has also told that House that they will be:

‘…examining the processes and procedures used in France, Italy and elsewhere to see if our own legislation might be changed to enable us to deport dangerous foreign nationals faster.’

So can we expect the government to soon deport ‘dangerous foreign nationals’ regardless of what the ECHR thinks, as Italy has done in the past (and as Douglas Murray recently highlighted on Coffee House)? I wouldn’t bet on it. May also stressed that ‘no Council of Europe member state now ignores Rule 39 injunctions, which Strasbourg issues to prevent deportations.’ Her point was that even Italy and France obey the rules, and that Britain should too. But whether — and how far — those rules can be stretched is surely another question for this week’s meeting in Brighton.