Dominic Raab: In 2000 he joined the Foreign & Commonwealth Office. He left the FCO in 2006.
Jack Straw was Foreign Secretary 2001-2006.
The Foreign Office represented the UK before the ECtHR in 2004 and 2005 in Hirst v UK (No2).
The FCO is responsible to the Council of Europe for ensuring that the UK meets its obligations under the Treaty of London 1949 (Statute of the Council of Europe), including abiding by the Convention and Court decisions.
On 10 February 2011 the Backbench Business Committee, in the Commons put forward the following motion...
"That this House notes the ruling of the European Court of Human Rights in Hirst v the United Kingdom in which it held that there had been no substantive debate by members of the legislature on the continued justification for maintaining a general restriction on the right of prisoners to vote; acknowledges the treaty obligations of the UK; is of the opinion that legislative decisions of this nature should be a matter for democratically-elected lawmakers; and supports the current situation in which no prisoner is able to vote except those imprisoned for contempt, default or on remand".
According to Hansard: "The motion stands in the names of the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw), my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Mr Raab)...".
Previously, it was assumed that this unholy alliance only came together on 10 February 2011. However, it now emerges that they came together for 5 years between 2001-2006 at the FCO. What did they get up to during this period on the Prisoners Votes Case which they are now seeking to cover up from Parliamentary scrutiny?
they came together for 5 years
ReplyDeleteAnd you're surprised, John?