Abu Qatada Says He's Forgotten About Britain

Timeline: Qatada Legal Battle

Updated: 10:35am UK, Wednesday 24 September 2014

Abu Qatada challenged and ultimately thwarted every attempt by the Government to detain and deport him for many years.

Here is a timeline of the legal battle.

1993: Abu Qatada claims asylum when he arrives in Britain on a forged passport.

1994: Allowed to stay in Britain.

1995: Issues a "fatwa" justifying the killing of converts from Islam, their wives and children in Algeria.

1998: Applies for indefinite leave to remain in Britain.

1999: April - Convicted in his absence on terror charges in Jordan and sentenced to life imprisonment.

October - Speaks in London advocating the killing of Jews and praising attacks on Americans.

2001: February - Arrested by anti-terror police over involvement in a plot to bomb Strasbourg Christmas market. Officers find him with £170,000 in cash, including £805 in an envelope marked "For the mujahedin in Chechnya".

December - Becomes one of Britain's most wanted men after going on the run from his home in west London.

2002: Arrested by police in a council house in south London and detained in Belmarsh high-security jail.

2005: Freed on conditional bail and placed on a control order but arrested again in August under immigration rules as the Government seeks to deport him to Jordan.

2008: April: Court of Appeal rules deportation would breach his human rights because evidence used against him in Jordan might have been obtained through torture.

May - Granted bail by the immigration tribunal but told he must stay inside for 22 hours a day.

June - Released from Long Lartin jail in Worcestershire and moves into a four-bedroom house in west London.

November - He is rearrested after the Home Office tells an immigration hearing of fears he plans to abscond.

December - Qatada's bail is revoked by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) after hearing secret evidence that the risk of him absconding has increased.

2009: Five Law Lords unanimously back the Government's policy of removing terror suspects from Britain on the basis of assurances from foreign governments and it is ruled he can be deported to Jordan to face a retrial on the terror charges.

He is awarded 2,800 euro (£2,500) compensation by the European Court of Human Rights after the judges rule that his detention without trial in the UK under anti-terrorism powers breached his human rights.

2012: January - European judges rule he can be sent to Jordan with diplomatic assurances but not while "there remains a real risk that evidence obtained by torture will be used against him".

February - He is released on strict bail conditions.

April - Rearrested as the Government prepares to deport him after Jordan gives assurances it will "bend over backwards" to ensure he receives a fair trial.

March - Qatada's legal team loses its bid to have the case heard by the Europe's human rights judges, clearing the way for deportation proceedings to continue.

May and August - Siac rejects Qatada's applications for bail.

October - Siac holds appeal hearing.

November - His appeal is granted and he is granted bail.

December - Qatada is moved to a larger residence in the greater London area.

2013: March 9 - It emerges Qatada has been arrested for allegedly breaching his bail conditions. He is ordered to stay in custody and sent to Belmarsh.

March 21 - Police reveal the cleric is being investigated over extremist material.

March 27 - Home Secretary Theresa May loses her appeal over Siac's decision to allow Qatada to stay in the UK. The Home Office vows to appeal.

April 17 - The Home Office formally announces that it is seeking leave from the Court of Appeal to take the case to the Supreme Court.

April 22 - The Court of Appeal refuses permission to go to the Supreme Court, forcing the Home Office to appeal directly to the highest court in the land.

April 23 - Theresa May tells MPs she has signed a new treaty with Jordan that should pave the way to deportation, but warns it might take "many months".

May 10 - Qatada's barrister says he will go back to Jordan voluntarily if the treaty on the use of evidence obtained by torture, guaranteeing he will not be tortured, is ratified by the Jordanian parliament.

May 20 - Qatada is refused bail by the Special Immigrations Appeals Commission after "jihadist material" is found on a computer memory stick.

July 2 - The new treaty between Jordan and Britain is fully ratified, sparking claims Qatada could be on a plane within days.

July 3 - A Jordanian government official tells AFP the cleric is due back on Sunday.

July 7 - Flown from RAF Northolt to Jordan

December 10: Pleads not guilty to terrorism charges at a state security court in the Jordanian capital, Amman.

2014: June 26 - Acquitted of conspiracy to commit acts of terrorism over 1998 bomb plots allegations.

September 24 - Acquitted over plot to target Western tourists over the New Year in Jordan in 2000.

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Stand Up Be Counted: Questions PM Must Answer

Having attended my first party conference last week in Manchester, I'm now looking forward to the Conservative gathering in Birmingham - it will be interesting to see the differences and similarities between the two events and the parties.

With Parliament being recalled, I expect that foreign policy and defence will be talked about by all those who attend.

But as a young person I will be wanting to see if the Tories have plans to support lowering the voting age to 16, which has been a popular issue on the Stand Up Be Counted website.

Another important issue for me is how the Tories plan to create more careers, not just jobs, for young people.

The unemployment rate for young people is a concern for all parties.

Labour have outlined that they would approach the problem by creating more apprenticeship and put an end to zero-hour contracts.

I would like to see the Conservatives support the end of zero-hour contracts and explain their plan to lower the jobless rate.

If the UK economy is to get back to being the strongest in the world, there needs to be careers for young people to progress in.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has told us of his plans to restore the 50p top rate of income tax and bring back the 10p tax band for the lowest paid.

I expect the Tories will say nothing of these policies but talk of plans to promote business.

I also imagine they will try to pick holes in Labour's plans and tell us that more spending cuts are needed over the next five years.

As for David Cameron, I think that after Ed Miliband's speech he will look to deliver a smooth, crisp speech to show voters that he is the leader they need and want.

Having gone to the party conferences with a open mind, I'm not sure how I will feel by the end - but I'll wait and see if I was right or wrong on the issues discussed.

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Tory Plan To Lower Benefits Cap To £23,000

UKIP Defections: PM Did Too Little, Too Late

Updated: 10:09pm UK, Saturday 27 September 2014

By Anushka Asthana, Political Correspondent

During the 2010 election, I travelled to Rochester and Strood in Kent, where I met the Tory candidate Mark Reckless.

One thing that struck me as I watched him take to the doorsteps, was the number of constituents raising the issue of immigration.

One awkward incident involved an elderly man ranting about why he supported the far-right National Front. Mr Reckless backed off, embarrassed.

He certainly didn't share those extreme views. But it was clear then that he was a politician who was worried about immigration and angry about Europe.

I remember another conversation with Mr Reckless last year in the Commons.

Tory backbenchers were nervous about immigration, he told me. They felt David Cameron hadn't done enough, and the looming prospect of transitional controls lifted on Bulgarians and Romanians was of particular concern. 

Things could get tetchy in January 2015, he said.

Mr Cameron knew about these misgivings among his MPs and tried to act on them.

Late last year he unveiled a toughening up in the rhetoric on immigration – bringing in new rules to crack down on the access that new EU migrants would get to benefits. Then came the pledge of an EU referendum.

The hope was to appease the concerns of people like Mr Reckless, and you might have thought it was working.

After all, following the defection to UKIP of Douglas Carswell many asked the MP if he would be next. He insisted not.

When I texted Tracey Crouch, a neighbouring MP in Kent, about his decision to leave the Tories, she replied: "Nothing I can say right now would be becoming of a lady. I'm so angry. He looked me in the eye and promised he wasn't going to defect."

Others pointed out that he was openly supportive of the Conservatives as recently as yesterday.

Then he tweeted: "Good to lead coach for Team2015 campaigning in Birmingham Northfield on Sunday + will be followed by our Clacton action next Thursday."

That is why Tory sources say they are "surprised". Other MPs told me they felt "let down", "frustrated" and "fed up".

"Another battle when we should be fighting Labour," said one.

Others argued that although he had behaved irresponsibly, giving a leg-up to Ed Miliband, that a number of backbenchers were angry with the party's position on Europe.

They believe that Mr Cameron hasn't done enough to prove he can loosen Britain's ties to the EU. They want to see the issue addressed at his conference speech this week.

The problem for men like Mr Reckless is they don't share the Prime Minister's views on Europe.

Mr Cameron wants to reform the UK's relationship with the continent and then – ideally – campaign for us to stay IN.

And that is the sticking point with Mr Reckless.

The former Tory MP was clear today that he believes in an independent Britain, and wants to follow the Scotland Yes campaign with what he said was a positive, patriotic message for voters.

He wants OUT – and UKIP is the only party that is fully with him.

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Video Vigilantes Chasing Down Dangerous Drivers

By Emma Birchley, East of England Correspondent

Dangerous drivers should be keeping their eyes peeled not just for police after it emerged that tens of thousands of motorists and cyclists are recording every journey they make.

That footage is then being used to help settle insurance claims but also to help stretched police forces pursue cases of bad driving.

Cyclist Dave Sherry has recorded 400 incidents in the past two years that have resulted in dozens of convictions and cautions.

"A couple of years ago I had an incident involving a bad driver. I called the police and they said it's your word against his and I decided on video evidence," he said.

"It's indisputable and it basically fits on the bike to show the bad drivers for who they are."

The consequences can be extremely serious.

Cyclist Dave Sherry has recorded hundreds of incidents

One bus driver lost his job last year after being videoed by Mr Sherry looking down at a handset while driving along the road with passengers on board.

It means his actions are not popular with everyone.

A van driver in Leyton, east London, described such behaviour as "nosy".

"I don't like it. I don't even like the CCTV cameras about if I'm honest," he said. "It's people spying on each other."

Some police forces are more than happy to use footage from the public but others say they simply do not have the resources to deal with it except in the most serious cases. 

Now the Home office is leading a project to come up with "common standards" on how such video should be used by the police and criminal justice service.

The Association of Chief Police Officers encourages the public to provide evidence to police.

Drivers have been caught out using phones and other devices at the wheel

Chief Constable Giles York, of the National Policing Lead for Digital Evidence, said: "With motoring offences, videos filmed from dashboard mounted cameras are admissible as evidence, and assuming that the quality is good and the evidence can be corroborated the police will record, report and consider the circumstances of each case on its merits."

One company, Policewitness.com, is making it easier for the drivers and cyclists to get their footage to the right force.

Chairman Matt Stockdale, a former senior police officer, said they receive hundreds of clips some weeks.

"Now that we have a stretched force, no matter where you are in the country the result is very few people are proactively pulled over and given advice for their driving, so it falls back to us the public.

"The public have demonstrated time and time again, now with tens of thousands of motorists and cyclists recording their journeys every day, it's shown me they are not going to stand by and be a victim."

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TV Actress Bellingham May Have Months To Live

Lynda Bellingham, the actress best known for playing a mum in the Oxo TV adverts, plans to end life-extending chemotherapy treatment, allowing her to die.

The 66-year-old star, who has colon cancer that has spread to her lungs and liver, says she wants to spend one more Christmas with her family before she passes away.

She is set to stop having chemo around November and believes she may lose her life by the end of January.

In her new autobiography, Bellingham, who was diagnosed in July last year, said how she revealed her plans to doctors.

In excerpts printed in a newspaper, she said: "August 13, 2014. Yesterday was the glorious 12th - a day for us to remember because it is also the day I decided when I will die. I am very dramatic aren't I?

"I know it is not ultimately my decision, but it is my last vestige of control to sit in front of the oncologist and say when I would like to stop having chemo and let the natural way do its thing.

"I sat down with (husband) Michael and Professor Stebbing and announced: 'The time has come to cease and desist.

"'I would love to make one more Christmas, if possible, but I want to stop taking chemo around November in order to pass away by the end of January'."

Earlier this year, the regular Loose Women panellist, whose sister Barbara died from lung cancer, picked up an OBE from Buckingham Palace, recognition for a career has spanned 40 years.

Highlights included TV series All Creatures Great And Small, competing in Strictly Come Dancing and starring in the touring stage production of Calendar Girls.

Her starring role as the mother in a squabbling family in the long-running Oxo TV adverts was first screened in the 1980s.

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RAF Helps Search For Missing Teen Alice Gross

The RAF has been helping in the search for missing teenager Alice Gross, Scotland Yard has confirmed.

Along with more than a dozen police forces across the country, the air force has provided support with "aerial analysis" - which allows officers on the ground to focus their efforts to find the 14-year-old, who disappeared five weeks ago.

Runners taking part in a half-marathon in Ealing, west London, have worn yellow ribbons to raise awareness of Alice's disappearance.

Ribbons have also been tied to trees and fences along the route, which runs close to where Alice was last seen.

Runners wore yellow ribbons to raise awareness of Alice's disappearance

Kelvin Walker, race director for the event, told Sky News: "We thought it would be a really good idea to give some runners bows to run around the course.

"The course is now covered in ribbons and it's quite an emotional sight to see, so we're just really happy to be involved in helping them."

The schoolgirl, from Hanwell, west London, disappeared on 28 August. She was filmed on CCTV walking along the towpath of the Grand Union Canal towards Hanwell at 4.26pm, but has not been seen since.

The 14-year-old disappeared five weeks ago

On Saturday, police revealed that footage from 300 CCTV cameras is now being analysed, taken from a six-square-mile radius.

Officers will continue to search scrubland along the towpath near the canal.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said: "This continues to be a massive investigation.

Police will continue a search of scrubland near the Grand Union Canal

"A range of officers and staff from across the Met are taking part in the ever-expanding search for Alice."

Police received 150 phone calls after staging a reconstruction of the teenager's last known movements.

Convicted murderer Arnis Zalkalns, the prime suspect in her disappearance, who has also vanished, was filmed cycling the same route behind the teenager.

But police stress the Latvian, who was also accused of molesting a 14-year-old girl in 2009, was just "one line of inquiry".

A reward of up to £20,000 is being offered for anyone who has information that leads police to find Alice.

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UKIP Defection Is Triple Nightmare For Cameron

By Faisal Islam, Political Editor

The Prime Minister rises at 5.15am on a working day.

At that moment on Saturday the banners were being hung in Birmingham, the lifts festooned, and individual staircase steps swathed with constituent economic achievements leading to an overall tagline: "Securing A Better Future".

The basic sell: a recovery is here, but the country needs the Conservatives to finish the job.

And then, David Cameron would have been forgiven for seeing a clear route to glory in May starting with his trip to Birmingham for the Conservative Party conference.

A thumping majority in a successful Parliamentary vote was the fruition of weeks of slow deliberative work on Islamic State (IS), to show a diplomatic, humanitarian, multilateral effort.

Even then, the vote seemed most difficult for Labour leader Ed Miliband, losing one rising frontbench star, and having to fire an aide to the shadow defence secretary.

The papers were beginning to question Mr Miliband's position of backing airstrikes against IS in Syria by the US and Arab allies, but requiring an effort to get a UN resolution for the RAF to join them.

Mark Reckless has found a new ally in the leader of the UKIP party

And then there was his opponents' speech in Manchester.

He didn't watch it, but read it and felt confident enough to tell the Sunday Times it was 'guff'.

The weekend papers had carried the first of the Conservative grid announcements: a Mail story extending discounts to 100,000 first-time buyers, the Sunday Times on welfare caps to fund extra apprenticeships.

A strong performance in front of a united Conservative party learning a disciplined message on the economic recovery is exactly the sort of base from which to turn around the Labour Party's extraordinarily impervious poll lead, and confirm the traditional swing to an incumbent government.

And then came Reckless and Newmark. Two very different Conservative MPs.

A self-inflicted wound from a minister, obliged to resign by a salacious newspaper sting hours before the start of a vital pre-election conference.

But Mark Reckless' defection to UKIP is a triple nightmare.

The loss of an MP, to UKIP, and the attendant distraction of a by-election that will be far closer than Clacton.

The fact of it is compounded by the method. It was designed for maximum timing embarrassment. Again it was kept a secret.

The sheer pleasure the assembled crowd was extraordinary to behold. UKIP are showing clear competence in these theatrical defections.

But Mr Reckless joined Douglas Carswell in laying out not just policy differences, but personal problems with David Cameron's style.

Douglas Carswell is another Tory defector

In particular an 'away day' attempt to get precisely the same type of message discipline from MPs as exudes from the Birmingham ICC.

Both defectors mentioned the treatment of the independent-minded and far from Ukippy MP Sarah Wollaston. This establishes method and motive for yet more defections.

We already have half of an ex-Tory "Gang of Four". Remember the pundits saying that May was UKIP's high watermark?

Conservatives might try to take comfort from the fact that UKIP will also do well in certain Labour seats, beginning with the Heywood and Middleton by-election.

But the threat is clearly asymmetrical.

At the Labour fringe, they were developing policies and messages to defeat UKIP as 'more Tory than the Tories'.

At the Conservative fringe, they'll be discussing how to adopt UKIP policy, or how to join them. Or one might argue that the Conservative fringe is UKIP.

So Mr Cameron started Saturday with a clear path.

A push into the centre ground, and a grab for the 6% of Labour voters who think George Osborne has run the economy well could mean, whisper it, a majority.

But the PM finds himself fighting on two fronts, and one of them a very old war. I expect some sort of extraction from the European Convention on Human Rights.

"The status quo cannot continue" was all one insider would say. Is that enough to sate the frustration of UKIP-tempted Tory activists, voters and MPs? Almost certainly not. An offer for England might help.

After a tough week, incredibly, Ed Miliband could be forgiven for having a half-smile.

David Cameron will be relieved that his opposite number did not claim that "PM-in-waiting" mantle last week. But that relief was rather short-lived.

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'Nothing Token' About Britain's Iraq Mission

Defence Secretary Michael Fallon has rejected claims Britain's role in the fight against Islamic State (IS) is a "token" gesture, as he confirmed RAF Tornados are now flying daily over northern Iraq.

He told Sky's Murnaghan programme the United States welcomes the contribution of six aircraft to the mission.

Mr Fallon said: "There's nothing token about this. On the contrary, I spoke to the American Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel immediately after the vote and he welcomed the contribution that we're now able to make.

"They need our help, not simply with the Tornados, which are now flying daily from Cyprus, but also from the surveyance aircraft that we have overhead and very sophisticated surveyance and intelligence to add to the operations of Iraqi and Kurdish forces."

His comments come after Richard Williams, a former commanding officer of the SAS who served in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, wrote in the Independent on Sunday the deployment of RAF bombers was a "military sugar rush" that "risks looking fearful and half-cocked".

Lieutenant Colonel Williams said the sending in of RAF bombers had "taken on a military and political significance out of all proportion to their real military value".

The RAF Tornados pictured over Iraq on Saturday. Pic: MoD The planes were refuelled in mid-air by a Voyager tanker aircraft. Pic: MoD

Lord Richards of Herstmonceux, a former head of the UK military who stepped down as chief of the defence staff last year, also told The Sunday Times that a campaign involving ground troops would be needed to crush IS.

The RAF carried out two sorties over Iraq on Saturday after Parliament cleared the way for airstrikes on IS militants in a vote on Friday.

In both missions the Tornado GR4 fighter bombers did not use their weapons, although the Ministry of Defence said "invaluable intelligence" had been gathered using the planes' surveillance equipment.

The jets, which fly in pairs, returned to their base at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus at the end of their hours-long missions with their weapons payload intact.

RAF crew at the base on Saturday morning. Pic: MoD

Sky's Tom Parmenter, who is at the base, says that two Tornados took off on another mission just after midday on Sunday.

Prime Minister David Cameron has said he also wants to make the case for targeting Syria.

In an interview with the Sunday Times, the Prime Minister revealed he would argue that targeting Syria is both legal and appropriate.

"There are complications but there aren't legal difficulties," he said.

Mr Cameron said he would respond to the challenge thrown down by Ed Miliband to seek a UN resolution supporting attacks in Syria, if only to show that his request is impossible.

"We have to demonstrate to people that we'd like a UN security council resolution but it's very difficult to get one and to demonstrate that what we propose is legal. Attempts have been made but there's the existence of a Russian veto."

Ministers had cautioned not to expect a campaign of "shock and awe" and that after weeks of US airstrikes in the area it could take time to identify new targets.

Mr Cameron insisted the involvement of RAF combat aircraft showed Britain was there to "play our part" in the international coalition being assembled against IS.

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Sex Scandal And Defection Hit Tory Conference

The Conservatives have been dealt a devastating double blow after a minister quit over a sex scandal and another party MP announced he was defecting to UKIP.

Cabinet Office minister Brooks Newmark resigned after reportedly sending explicit pictures of himself online to an undercover tabloid newspaper reporter.

His announcement came just hours after Rochester and Strood MP Mark Reckless declared he was joining UKIP leader Nigel Farage's "people's army".

Meanwhile, an opinion poll in the Sunday Mirror and Independent on Sunday suggests Mr Farage is more popular than Prime Minister David Cameron.

Mr Reckless is the second Conservative to defect to UKIP within a month, joining Clacton MP Douglas Carswell.

Mr Reckless and Mr Farage got further acquainted in a pub on Sunday

Speaking on the BBC's The Andrew Marr show on Sunday, the PM said it was "counterproductive and senseless".

Mr Reckless was forced to cut short a visit to his constituency by his new party leader on Sunday after local Conservatives angry at his defection turned up and he received hostile questions from members of the public.

It comes as the Conservative Party's conference got under way in Birmingham.

It was opened by party chairman Grant Shapps, who said voters, activists and donors had been "betrayed" by Mr Reckless.

The UKIP leader could not contain his delight at the Tory MP's defection

He said he had "lied, lied, and lied again".

The setbacks overshadowed the announcement of plans for a new squeeze on benefits to fund millions of new apprenticeships.

According to the Sunday Mirror, Mr Newmark allegedly exchanged explicit pictures over the internet with a female reporter posing as a Tory PR worker.

The 56-year-old married father of five tendered his resignation after learning that the newspaper was about to publish details of their exchanges.

Samantha Cameron and the PM arrive in Birmingham for the conference

He said on Sunday: "I have been a complete fool. I have no one to blame but myself. I have hurt those I care about most. I am so, so sorry. But I just need time with my family."

Downing Street said that Reading East MP Rob Wilson had been appointed the new Civil Society Minister.

Mr Reckless received an ecstatic reception from UKIP activists at their party conference in Doncaster after he declared he was leaving the Tories.

He accused the leadership of failing to keep its promises on Europe, the economy and immigration.

"People feel ignored, taken for granted, over-taxed, over-regulated, ripped off and lied to," he declared.

He dismissed the PM's promise of an in/out EU referendum as a "device" designed to deliver the "pre-ordained" result in favour of Britain's continued membership.

Brooks Newmark resigned over claims he sent explicit photos

There was deep anger in the Conservative ranks at Mr Reckless' move, with a party spokesman denouncing the defection as "completely illogical".

Mr Reckless' constituency party chairman, Andrew Mackness, said that he was "astonished and disgusted" at the decision, and said he had been given assurances by Mr Reckless that he would not defect.

Like Mr Carswell, Mr Reckless said that he would be standing down as an MP in order to fight the seat as a UKIP candidate in a by-election.

Although he took the Kent constituency with a majority of almost 10,000 at the last general election, he may face a tough battle to return to Westminster.

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Teenager Arrested After Elderly Woman Raped

By Emma Birchley, East Of England Correspondent

A teenager has been arrested on suspicion of raping an elderly woman in her home.

The 17-year-old, from Ipswich, was taken into custody shortly before 3pm on Sunday in the seaside town of Felixstowe and is currently being questioned.

The woman called police in the early hours of the morning reporting that she had been sexually assaulted by a man who had broken into her home.

She was taken to Ipswich Hospital to be treated for a number of injuries and is now being comforted by her family.

Crime scene investigators have been working at the scene in the Walton area of Felixstowe.

Police say they will speak to the woman about her ordeal on Monday.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Suffolk Police on 101.

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