Clarke mocks May as catfight over human rights dogs the Tories

Justice secretary disputes home secretary’s tale of deportation halted over ownership of pet cat Downing Street rallied to the defence of Theresa May after the justice secretary, Kenneth Clarke, mocked her for suggesting that an illegal immigrant had resisted deportation on the grounds that he owned a pet cat. Friends of the justice secretary insisted he was standing firm after No 10 sources indicated that a humbled Clarke should show contrition by taking May, the home secretary, out for a “nice slap-up meal”. One of the quietest conference seasons in years came alive on its penultimate day when Clarke took issue with the announcement in May’s conference speech – that illegal immigrants are abusing the Human Rights Act to fight deportation from Britain. The home secretary illustrated her case by citing the example of a Bolivian national who resisted deportation on the grounds he owned a cat, Maya. May, who wants to abolish the Human Rights Act, said : “The illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – I am not making this up – he had a pet cat.” Speaking an hour later at a fringe meeting, hosted by the Daily Telegraph, Clarke ridiculed May’s remarks. Clarke, a strong defender of the European convention on human rights, which provided the basis for the HRA, said: “I’ve never had a conversation on the subject with Theresa, so I’d have to find out about these strange cases she is throwing out. They are British cases and British judges she is complaining about. I cannot believe anybody has ever had deportation refused on the basis of owning a cat. I’ll have a small bet with her that nobody has ever been refused deportation on the grounds of the ownership of a cat.” The remarks by the justice secretary triggered a string of jokes on Twitter about a catfight involving Clarke, May and a cat whose name is one letter longer than the home secretary’s surname. Stefan Stern, a professor at the Cass Business School, even managed to link the spat to the phone-hacking scandal. “Neither the cat nor Coulson were properly vetted,” he tweeted at #kittygate. But as the jokes – and the proverbial fur – flew on Twitter, a classic briefing war erupted in Manchester between the cabinet ministers’ camps. Home Office sources said Clarke was wrong because the immigration judge had cited the case of Maya the cat when he ruled against deportation. This was dismissed on appeal. A Home Office source said: “This shows why we need clarification. There is a complete lack of clarity here.” But sources in the Clarke camp cited a statement by the judicial communications office, which represents senior judges, insisting the tale was not true and said it had told May’s department as much. A spokeswoman for the judicial communications office said: “This was a case in which the Home Office conceded that they had mistakenly failed to apply their own policy – applying at that time to that appellant – for dealing with unmarried partners of people settled in the UK.’ A friend of Clarke said: “That statement is really serious. That is the authentic voice of the judiciary. We have a situation where the home secretary – the home secretary – has made a mistake on a basic point. The Home Office are going bananas because they know Theresa made a mistake.” But Downing Street sources defended May and turned its humour on Clarke as it said that Clarke should hand her a fiver after losing his bet. One source said: “David Cameron really likes the policy announced by Theresa May. Ken wanted reassurance that a cat was not involved. He has had that.” In a final flourish of humour, the source said: I am sure he will want to pause for thought. Get it?” May used the example of the cat to illustrate the need to amend immigration rules to restrict the ability of illegal immigrants and foreign criminals to resist deportation by invoking the right to a family life under article eight of the Human Rights Act. This incorporates rights enshrined in the European convention on human rights (ECHR). May’s speech was not shown to Clarke. In common with conference speeches by all cabinet minsters, it was cleared with the “quad” committee of David Cameron, Nick Clegg, George Osborne and Danny Alexander. Sadiq Khan, the shadow justice secretary, said: “The energy and time this government is spending on arguments about the HRA shows how completely out of touch it is with the British people who are not interested in catfights between ministers but how the safety of their communities will be protected after cuts in police budgets which go too far and too fast.” Conservative conference 2011 Conservative conference Kenneth Clarke Theresa May Human rights Human Rights Act Nicholas Watt Alan Travis guardian.co.uk

Posted by on October 4, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.