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The Work of the Home Secretary

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The Work of the Home Secretary House of Commons Home Affairs Committee The work of the Home Secretary Oral and written evidence 16 July 2013 Rt Hon Theresa May MP, Home Secretary Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 16 July 2013 HC 235-i Published on 8 October 2013 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £6.00 The Home Affairs Committee The Home Affairs Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Home Office and its associated public bodies. Current membership Rt Hon Keith Vaz MP (Labour, Leicester East) (Chair) Nicola Blackwood MP (Conservative, Oxford West and Abingdon) James Clappison MP (Conservative, Hertsmere) Michael Ellis MP (Conservative, Northampton North) Lorraine Fullbrook MP (Conservative, South Ribble) Dr Julian Huppert MP (Liberal Democrat, Cambridge) Steve McCabe MP (Labour, Birmingham Selly Oak) Bridget Phillipson MP (Labour, Houghton and Sunderland South) Mark Reckless MP (Conservative, Rochester and Strood) Chris Ruane MP (Labour, Vale of Clwyd) Mr David Winnick MP (Labour, Walsall North) The following Members were also members of the Committee during the parliament. Rt Hon Alun Michael MP (Labour & Co-operative, Cardiff South and Penarth) Karl Turner MP (Labour, Kingston upon Hull East) Powers The Committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publication The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at www.parliament.uk/homeaffairscom. Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Tom Healey (Clerk), Robert Cope (Second Clerk), Eleanor Scarnell (Committee Specialist), Andy Boyd (Senior Committee Assistant), Michelle Garratty (Committee Assistant), Iwona Hankin (Committee Support Officer) and Alex Paterson (Select Committee Media Officer). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Home Affairs Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank, London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 3276; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. List of witnesses Tuesday 16 July 2013 Page Rt Hon Theresa May MP, Home Secretary Ev 1 List of written evidence Page 1 Letter from Rt Hon Theresa May MP, Home Secretary Ev 14 cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [SO] Processed: [04-10-2013 09:35] Job: 032866 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/032866/032866_w001_steve_follow up evidence from Home Secretary.xml Home Affairs Committee: Evidence Ev 1 Oral evidence Taken before the Home Affairs Committee on Tuesday 16 July 2013 Members present: Keith Vaz (Chair) Nicola Blackwood Steve McCabe Mr James Clappison Mark Reckless Michael Ellis Chris Ruane Lorraine Fullbrook Mr David Winnick Dr Julian Huppert ________________ Examination of Witness Witness: Rt Hon Theresa May MP, Home Secretary, gave evidence. Q1 Chair: Home Secretary, my apologies for Q4 Chair: Did it then come back or did it stay in keeping you waiting. I know you must be extremely Jordan? Or was it just hired? busy. We apologise. Our last two witnesses were very Mrs May: I have to say, Chairman, that beyond its interesting to the Committee. arriving in Jordan and Abu Qatada getting off it, I Thank you very much for coming today. The last time really had little interest in what was happening to the you appeared here before us, you spent 25 minutes plane. If you wish to know where the plane went to, talking about Abu Qatada. On behalf of the I am very happy to— Committee, could I thank you for your personal efforts in ensuring that Abu Qatada finally made it on to a plane and out of the country? It must be a source Q5 Chair: No, no, I am very happy with it. We saw of great satisfaction to you that this chapter has been him getting on, and we saw him getting off, so I closed. Are you satisfied that that is now the end of assume he is still there—but we paid the cost. the matter; there is no risk that he might be sent back Let us move on. We have just heard evidence from to us? Mick Creedon, and you, no doubt, like the Committee, Mrs May: I am satisfied that it is the end of the matter, have tried to absorb the very useful report that Mr Chairman. Thank you for your kind remarks. I should Creedon has produced on Operation Herne. We have say that an awful lot of people have worked very hard heard the apology from the Commissioner to the on this, some of them who have been working hard families of those whose children had died and whose on it for quite a considerable period of time. A real identities had been used. Was the Commissioner right effort was put in by officials in the Home Office, and to apologise for this, and would you like to add by others, our ambassador in Amman and others, to anything to what he has said about the use of the ensure that we could achieve this, and obviously by identities of dead children in those circumstances? working with the Jordanian Government. I am Mrs May: As I understand it, the Commissioner satisfied in the assurances that we received from them, apologised for the shock and offence that was caused and the Treaty, both of which enabled Abu Qatada to by this. Obviously, at the time when it was first be deported. suggested that this might have been the practice, I think many people were very concerned to hear that Q2 Chair: Do you have today a figure for us as to it was a practice, and, I think, welcomed the fact that the final cost of the Abu Qatada case? Or if you do Pat Gallan, when she appeared before your not have it today, can you write to us with the cost? Committee, indicated that this was no longer the The last cost we had was £1.7 million. Would you be practice, and, indeed, could not take place under the able to let us have those figures? regulatory system that is now in place. I understand Mrs May: I won’t be able to let you have a complete the significant concerns that people had that this was cost, Chairman, because some of the figures will relate a practice that was used by the police. to activity by the police and others. As you will be aware, we do not normally reveal those figures. The figure of £1.7 million which you received, I believe is Q6 Chair: You of course have deprecated that a figure which predominantly relates to legal costs. Of practice? course, some money was taken from Abu Qatada’s Mrs May: I have been clear that I completely frozen assets here in the UK, some £220,000, to cover understand why people are concerned at that practice, some of those legal costs. that the practice was used. We are going back, of course, some years in relation to how this came about. Q3 Chair: His final departure: was that on a plane As I understand it, and obviously from the figures that that we paid for, the British taxpayer? Or was that have been released today, Chief Constable Creedon paid for the Jordanian authorities? has suggested that some 42 dead children’s identities Mrs May: We provided the plane. may have been used in fake identities. cobber Pack: U PL: COE1 [E] Processed: [04-10-2013 09:35] Job: 032866 Unit: PG01 Source: /MILES/PKU/INPUT/032866/032866_w001_steve_follow up evidence from Home Secretary.xml Ev 2 Home Affairs Committee: Evidence 16 July 2013 Rt Hon Theresa May MP Q7 Chair: Do you think the families ought to be that he has been able to get to the truth—I think if he contacted, because clearly some families, after Pat is able to, this is the quickest way of doing it—but Gallan appeared before this Committee, immediately that if he has not been able to get to the truth, if he contacted the Metropolitan Police. Do you think that feels he has not been able to get all the evidence he all the families ought to have been informed about needs, to tell me whether he feels that a public inquiry this use? is necessary. I commit now that, if he says a public Mrs May: This is a very difficult question, which inquiry is necessary, then we will indeed set up a obviously the Chief Constable, in looking at this issue, judge-led public inquiry. has addressed today, because it is a balance between the natural concern of families perhaps to know Q10 Chair: That is extremely helpful, but of course whether or not the identity of their dead child has been the Prime Minister made another commitment, which used, but also a concern about some families where was that he would support an inquiry that had the perhaps this would reopen emotions on an issue which confidence of Doreen Lawrence and the Lawrence they have been able to move on from. Then on the family. He was very clear about that, and these two other side, of course, there is the question of those inquiries do not have the confidence of Doreen officers who were using those identities, who, if the Lawrence. We, on this Committee, have heard this for identities did become public, that could become ourselves when she sat before us last week. Although known to those they were working among as part of Mr Creedon has made it very clear that he would like their undercover jobs.
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