Abu Qatada

David Morris Excerpts

Tuesday 17th April 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mrs May]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right and I assure him that the case the Home Office will be putting forward at various hearings—both at bail and otherwise—will of course draw on the past evidence that this is a dangerous individual. That is why we wish to deport him and why I believe that, prior to deportation, he should be in detention.

[David Morris (Morecambe and Lunesdale) (Con)]

I congratulate the Home Secretary on moving mountains to get to this point, but will she describe the roadblocks that the Opposition had to encounter before we could get a grip on this issue and sort it out?

[Mrs May]

I thank my hon. Friend for his remarks. Of course, this is not purely my effort; the Minister with responsibility for crime and security, my hon. Friend the Member for Old Bexley and Sidcup went to Jordan, and a significant number of Home Office and Foreign Office officials have been working extremely hard over the past weeks and months since the original judgment to ensure that we reached the position we are in today, whereby we have been able to arrest Abu Qatada and resume deportation. It has taken a long time overall, and part of the reason is the lengthy legal process that has taken place. That is one of the reasons why I believe it necessary to look at whether we could make any changes to enable us to make these deportations quicker.