Blair cops pasting from Lords

The Blair Government faced an unprecedented display of opposition in both Houses of Parliament last night to the extradition to the United States of three former NatWest bankers on fraud charges.

In the Lords, peers defied the Government to vote 218 to 116, a majority of 102, in favour of blocking the future extradition of British citizens until the US Senate ratified a new treaty.

The House of Lords vote was only symbolically related to this extradition, and cannot halt it, but was an incredible move all the same.

Business leaders are outraged that America has failed to ratify its side of new extradition rules, allowing US authorities to extradite Britons without offering evidence.

David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby are accused of an £11 million fraud in which their former employers, NatWest, were advised to sell part of an Enron company for less than it was worth.

Lord Kingsland, Conservative home affairs spokesman, was reported saying: "I believe a signal from your lordships' house would be taken seriously by the US Senate.

In November 2003 the Extradition Bill became law, but we are still waiting for the treaty to be ratified by the US.

“Here we are, two-and-a-half years later, and the US has done nothing about ratification.

"But we have been acting as if the US had ratified that treaty, to the astonishment of a number of Americans.
We have been acting on the basis of a treaty that as yet forms no part of international law."

The issue shows how much traction Blair has now lost on the British scene. The constant toadying to Bush is even ranking his own ranks. So much for peerages for favours, there were few favours in this lot.

But more to the point, for a ‘workers’ party turned business party, Blair is undercutting key electoral support as well.

I expect, if the extradition does go ahead, Blair will pay for it dearly in the coming months. The issue has already wounded him, but he would still be better off to do a last minute backflip.