McKinnon thrown political lifeline

 

Gallery

By Stuart Turton

Posted on 3 Nov 2008 at 08:31

MPs are urging home secretary, Jacqui Smith, to halt the extradition of Gary McKinnon unless the US gives guarantees any potential sentence be served in the UK.

The request was raised by shadow justice minister, David Burrowes in an early day motion and has won cross-party support, with former home secretary David Blunkett adding his voice to the calls.

Raising the issue in the Commons, Burrowes described McKinnon as a "vulnerable young man of little means". He argued the home secretary should follow the example of the Dutch government, which requires the US to repatriate anybody with special medical or mental health needs to serve their sentence in their home country. McKinnon has been diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome.

In backing his claim, Burrowes brought up the example of the Natwest three, whose extradition to the US for fraud was vigorously debated in the Commons. Burrowes asked for "at least similar efforts be made on behalf of my constituent."

The news will come as a boost to McKinnon who is fighting extradition to the US where he will face trial for hacking into US military computers. His appeals have already been rejected by the High Court, Law Lords and European Court of Human Rights.