ABU QATADA SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HERE ABU-NITIO

Abu Qatada arrived in 1993 on a forged passport; this is not a negligible point. He has cost this country much in expense and security. He is said to be allied with terrorist jihadist groups in the UK, Egypt, Algeria, Jordan, Tunisia, Iraq, Indonesia, Italy, Belgium, Morocco, Libya, France, Afghanistan and Sweden — in 2007, the Special Immigration and Appeals Commission described his influence as ‘formidable, even incalculable. This government needs to solve not only the specific problem of how to
get Abu Qatada out of the UK, but the problem of why he could get stuck here at all. In the long term, the country must address Britain’s relationship with the Convention by defying it, renegotiating it or getting out of it. In a bid to eject Mr Qatada from Britain Teresa May has travelled to Jordan in order to possibly achieve this. But almost all newspapers are incredulous of Mr Qatada deportation. We must wait and see.