Huhne, Campbell and Carmichael quiz Johnson on Gary McKinnon

Christopher Huhne (Eastleigh, Liberal Democrat): ' . . WILL the Government now put the interests of justice for an increasingly vulnerable British citizen ahead of their relations with a foreign Government? Is the Home Secretary prepared to accept the real risk that he will have the life of a man on his hands?'

The Home Secretary is, in my view, a very brave man to hold out his judgment of the medical condition-and of the worsening of the medical condition-of Gary McKinnon against such overwhelming evidence as we have heard from Mr. Burrowes. Gary McKinnon is a vulnerable British citizen who has become more vulnerable and whose interests are being ignored in favour of an unequal treaty with the United States. Nobody contests that he has Asperger's or that that condition has been diagnosed since the beginning of the process and has got substantially worse. That alone should be enough to merit some compassion for his condition and mitigation of the penalty for a crime that he admits, as the Home Secretary knows.

Does the Home Secretary recognise that the clear risks to Mr. McKinnon's health and even life have increased since the beginning of the process and will increase further if he is not tried here but is extradited? Does he recognise from the additional medical evidence that the problems faced by Gary McKinnon are more substantial than they were at the beginning? Does that risk not worry him, particularly given the fine balance that he has to strike in deciding when there is a breach of someone's human rights?

May I also ask whether the Prime Minister has considered this case? Will the Government now put the interests of justice for an increasingly vulnerable British citizen ahead of their relations with a foreign Government? Is the Home Secretary prepared to accept the real risk that he will have the life of a man on his hands?

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Alan Johnson (Home Secretary; Kingston upon Hull West & Hessle, Labour): I appreciate the hon. Member's concern. He came to see me with David Davis and my right hon. Friend Mr. Meacher in the summer, and we discussed this issue, as I am willing to do on every occasion. I accept the vulnerability of Gary McKinnon, as I accept the vulnerability in many cases that go through the courts and in which a decision on extradition has to be taken. I note that I have been called spineless and a brave man within five minutes.

I do not argue that these decisions do not need very careful contemplation, and I have thought about this one long and hard. I have looked at every single word submitted by Gary McKinnon's lawyers on the evidence of his medical condition. As I have said previously, that is not materially different from the evidence that was before Lord Justice Burnton in June and on which he made his pronouncement on 30 July. I quoted Lord Justice Burnton in my statement saying that he accepts that there is a risk of suicide, and that is a heavy burden on any Home Secretary's shoulders-as Chris Huhne said in his final point. Nevertheless, my job is to uphold the law-to look at the European convention on human rights and decide whether article 3 is being breached in this case. My decision, based on all the evidence, is that article 3 rights are not being breached in the case of Gary McKinnon. Hon. Members may disagree, but I hope they do not think that that decision was made in any other circumstances than after the most careful contemplation.

• . . Menzies Campbell (Fife North East, Liberal Democrat): As the Home Secretary knows, extradition is based on the principle of reciprocity. Let me ask him this question: does he think there would be the slightest chance of an American citizen being extradited to the United Kingdom in similar circumstances and on similar evidence?

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Alan Johnson (Home Secretary; Kingston upon Hull West & Hessle, Labour): I hear this kind of argument all the time. Yes is absolutely my answer to that question. Just as we have extradited more than 30 people since the treaty came in, we have not been refused on any occasion, so this kind of faint anti-Americanism-as if the Americans' system is totally corrupt and our system is brilliant-is not something I accept. Nor do I accept that America would not extradite somebody over here in exactly the same circumstances.

• . . Alistair Carmichael (Orkney & Shetland, Liberal Democrat): When I was employed as a public prosecutor, it was my duty to make decisions on whether or not to prosecute based on what was in the public interest. The Home Secretary has got compelling evidence today that the decision not to prosecute exposes Gary McKinnon to the probable-if not the inevitable-risk of his committing suicide. I do not see how that can be in the public interest, and regardless of the question of judicial review, why, in these circumstances and with that evidence, is the DPP not being invited to reconsider his decision not to prosecute?

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Alan Johnson (Home Secretary; Kingston upon Hull West & Hessle, Labour): Because the High Court ruled, for the reasons I explained in my statement- [Interruption.] The High Court ruled that it was a matter for the DPP to decide- [Interruption.] Well, if the hon. Gentleman will just be quiet, I will give him the answer. The High Court decided, quite rightly, that it was the DPP's decision. He felt that the decision in this case was right. He set out the reasons why it was right-and I have set them out again in my statement-and he refused to allow judicial review. My deliberations have nothing to do with the decision to prosecute, or where to prosecute. My deliberations are about whether this decision breaches Gary McKinnon's human rights.

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