Abu Qatada evades deportation, again

On any normal day, the fact that Abu Qatada has won his appeal against deportation would be a major news story. But today it has been pushed down the running order by the slew of BBC stories.

The court’s reason for granting his appeal is that Qatada, in its judgement, would not receive a fair trial in Jordan. The government, which negotiated extensively with Amman to try and satisfy the courts on this point, will appeal. I suspect that Theresa May’s statement to the Commons on the matter later this afternoon will be defiant.

It does seem absurd that someone who is not a British citizen, came here illegally and is believed by the government to be a dangerous individual cannot be removed from the country. If we are to wait until Jordan has satisfied our courts that its legal processes guarantee him a fair trial, then we could be waiting a very long time.