PM in panic over deportation - Clegg

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Thu 18th May 2006

Following Tony Blair's announcement during Prime Minister's Question Time that automatic deportation of criminals should be carried out 'irrespective of any claim ... that the country to which they would be going back to may not be safe', Nick Clegg MP, Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Affairs secretary said "The Prime Minister is increasingly in a state of panic, ramping up the rhetoric in ever more lurid terms to divert attention from his government's incompetence.

"The Human Rights Act is not the problem, and the Prime Minister should stop using it as a scapegoat. It is a sign of desperation that he is so keen to denigrate a law which protects our right to life, our right to privacy, and our right to a fair trial, against abuses committed by the government.

"The Act rightly makes it difficult for the government to deport people when they are likely to be tortured at the other end of the flight. If the individual is a dangerous criminal who threatens the safety of the British public, there is a solution in the form of agreements with foreign governments to ensure they are not mistreated after deportation. The Prime Minister should be pressing ahead with those agreements instead of threatening to tear up the Act."