UK citizen, Christopher Tappin, was recently  extradited to the USA to await trial for allegedly selling weapon parts to the Iranians. He’s not actually been convicted of any crime in this country (nor it has to be said anywhere else) and it appears that he has lived lawfully and peacefully in the UK for all of his 65 years.

Without even a brief examination of the evidence compiled against him by the American authorities he was duly flown to the USA where he spends some 23 hours a day in solitary confinement. Earlier this week his application for bail before a Texas court, in front of whom  he appeared in chains, was dismissed. He will therefore wait in his cell until such time as the US government decides to try him.

Meanwhile back in the UK, Abu Qatada, a Jordanian national wanted by his country for various terrorist related crimes is free to remain in the UK because the European Court of Human Rights say that the Jordanians may well use evidence against him obtained through torture. This is a man who with his links to Al-Qaeda, was described by a British judge as “Bin Laden’s right hand man in Europe” . The UK government regards him as sufficiently dangerous to warrant the spending of £100,000 per week of taxpayers’ money on surveillance to make sure that he doesn’t carry out any of the threats he has repeatedly made to destroy innocent lives in this country and others.

In summary, suspected international terrorist and Jordanian national Abu Qatada has the human right to remain in the UK but UK citizen Christopher Tappin, suspected of crimes by the US Government, does not. There’s something not quite right here don’t you think?