David Cameron Avoids Humiliating Defeat over European Arrest Warrant

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: House of Commons debate over the European Arrest Warrant descends into chaos, acrimony and bitter recriminations as Government narrowly avoids defeat

David Cameron has narrowly avoided a humiliating defeat over the European Arrest Warrant in unprecedented Commons scenes which saw Tory ministers accused of “tricking” their own MPs.

The debate on the arrest warrant descended into bitter acrimony as MPs from all parties reacted with fury when it emerged that they would not be given an individual vote on the justice measure.

Mr Cameron was forced to return to the Commons dressed in white tie from a speech he was giving at the Lord Mayor's banquet as Government whips found themselves scrambling to shore up support and prevent Labour delaying the vote by a day.

MPs described it as the most “disorderly debate” seen in the Commons for 20 years.

The Government victory, which will mean Britain opts back into the European Arrest Warrant, was followed by an immediate blame-game from all parties. » | Peter Dominiczak and David Barrett | Monday, November 10, 2014

Nobody Is Safe from the Long Arm of EU Law
THE TELEGRAPH: Here is something the Government told us would never happen. When Britain signed up to the European Arrest Warrant (EAW) six years ago, critics pointed out that an individual could be extradited to another EU state to face prosecution for something that is not a crime in Britain and had not even been committed in the requesting country. Ministers dismissed such concerns as fanciful, but it has come to pass.

An Australian teacher is currently in jail in London, following his arrest at Heathrow airport by British police acting on a warrant issued by the German authorities.

Gerald Töben, 64, is wanted in Germany for the offence of "Holocaust denial". It used to be a fundamental protection in British law that no one would be sent for trial in another jurisdiction for something that is not an offence here. It was called the principle of dual criminality. However, when the EAW was drawn up this principle was removed for a list of 32 offences, which include the crimes of "racism and xenophobia".

These offences have no equivalent in this country; but it is now clear that denying the Holocaust, or "defaming the dead", falls into the category. Moreover, Töben did not physically commit the alleged offences in Germany or even within the EU.

The arrest warrant, issued in 2004, alleges that he had carried out from Australia (where it isn't a crime either) "worldwide internet publication" of material that denied, approved or played down the mass murder of Jews perpetrated by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. Nobody Is Safe from the Long Arm of EU Law >>> By Philip Johnston | October 5, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (UK) >>>

The European Union, A Prison of Nations
CHRONICLES MAGAZINE: Various multiethnic states (imperial Russia, the Habsburg Monarchy, pre-World War II Kingdom of Yugoslavia) have been labeled—often unfairly—as “prisons of nations.” That designation will apply more aptly to the European Union when the Lisbon Treaty, signed by all 27 EU heads of states or governments last December, takes effect next year. Under the “European Arrest Warrant,” which is to be implemented under the terms of the Treaty, every citizen or visitor of a member country the European Union will be liable to arrest and extradition at the behest of a judge in any other EU member-country, under one of 32 vaguely defined categories of “crime.”

This is a momentous development, and not one in a hundred EU citizens, let alone non-EU visitors to Europe, are fully aware of its implications. The European Union, A Prison of Nations >>> By Srdja Trifkovic

Hat tip: Ray Boyd

The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Dust Jacket Hardcover, direct from the publishers (US)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age – Paperback, direct from the publishers (US)