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| Diplomatic immunity review launched after Harry Dunn case | |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has commissioned a review into the immunity arrangements for US personnel and their families at an RAF base in the wake of the controversy over the death of British teenager Harry Dunn. | The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab, has commissioned a review into the immunity arrangements for US personnel and their families at an RAF base in the wake of the controversy over the death of British teenager Harry Dunn. |
| The 17-year-old died on 27 August after his motorcycle collided with a car being driven along the wrong side of the road near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire. | The 17-year-old died on 27 August after his motorcycle collided with a car being driven along the wrong side of the road near RAF Croughton in Northamptonshire. |
| Police believe the car was being driven by Anne Sacoolas, a US diplomat’s wife, and spoke to her as as a suspect. They say she assured them she would not “leave the country in the near future”, but she later left for the US, claiming diplomatic immunity. | Police believe the car was being driven by Anne Sacoolas, a US diplomat’s wife, and spoke to her as as a suspect. They say she assured them she would not “leave the country in the near future”, but she later left for the US, claiming diplomatic immunity. |
| The case has sparked an international outcry, with Boris Johnson and Donald Trump getting involved. Dunn’s parents travelled to the US to meet the president and urge Sacoolas to return to engage with the police investigation. | The case has sparked an international outcry, with Boris Johnson and Donald Trump getting involved. Dunn’s parents travelled to the US to meet the president and urge Sacoolas to return to engage with the police investigation. |
| Making a statement to the Commons on the case on Monday, Raab said: “We will continue to fight for justice for them. | Making a statement to the Commons on the case on Monday, Raab said: “We will continue to fight for justice for them. |
| “I’ve already commissioned a review of the immunity arrangements for US personnel and their families at the Croughton annex holding privileges and immunities under the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations. | “I’ve already commissioned a review of the immunity arrangements for US personnel and their families at the Croughton annex holding privileges and immunities under the Vienna convention on diplomatic relations. |
| “As this case has demonstrated, I do not believe the current arrangements are right and the review will look at how we can make sure that the arrangements at Croughton cannot be used in this way again.” | “As this case has demonstrated, I do not believe the current arrangements are right and the review will look at how we can make sure that the arrangements at Croughton cannot be used in this way again.” |
| The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, raised several questions, including on why it took so long for the family to be informed that Sacoolas had returned to the US. | The shadow foreign secretary, Emily Thornberry, raised several questions, including on why it took so long for the family to be informed that Sacoolas had returned to the US. |
| She asked Raab to publish all correspondence and records of communications and meetings between the Foreign Office, Northamptonshire police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), as well as those with US officials about the handling of the case. | She asked Raab to publish all correspondence and records of communications and meetings between the Foreign Office, Northamptonshire police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), as well as those with US officials about the handling of the case. |
| Thornberry asked: “Can the foreign secretary explain why his department asked Northamptonshire police to delay informing Harry Dunn’s family of the departure of Mrs Sacoolas for, to quote him, ‘a day or two’. | Thornberry asked: “Can the foreign secretary explain why his department asked Northamptonshire police to delay informing Harry Dunn’s family of the departure of Mrs Sacoolas for, to quote him, ‘a day or two’. |
| “Why did they not have the right to be told immediately? What possible legal, let alone ethical, basis was there for the foreign secretary to be interfering in operational police matters? Surely this family had the right to be informed straight away?” | “Why did they not have the right to be told immediately? What possible legal, let alone ethical, basis was there for the foreign secretary to be interfering in operational police matters? Surely this family had the right to be informed straight away?” |
| Addressing the delay, Raab replied: “It was one or two days. The reason we asked for a little bit of time – and this was a request not made by me, I wasn’t aware of it, but by my officials – was to make sure we’d be very clear on what the next course of action would be, and indeed precisely so they could inform ministers before the family were aware because we were aware there’d be immediate questions that would come back about what we’d do next.” | Addressing the delay, Raab replied: “It was one or two days. The reason we asked for a little bit of time – and this was a request not made by me, I wasn’t aware of it, but by my officials – was to make sure we’d be very clear on what the next course of action would be, and indeed precisely so they could inform ministers before the family were aware because we were aware there’d be immediate questions that would come back about what we’d do next.” |
| Earlier this week it emerged that Raab sent a letter to the Dunns in which he suggested that Sacoolas’s return to the US had rendered her diplomatic immunity irrelevant. | Earlier this week it emerged that Raab sent a letter to the Dunns in which he suggested that Sacoolas’s return to the US had rendered her diplomatic immunity irrelevant. |
| Thornberry asked in the Commons if, given this change in status, Raab had “been advised as to whether there are any barriers to the CPS commencing extradition proceedings to return Mrs Sacoolas to the UK”. | Thornberry asked in the Commons if, given this change in status, Raab had “been advised as to whether there are any barriers to the CPS commencing extradition proceedings to return Mrs Sacoolas to the UK”. |
| Raab responded: “Ultimately that must be for the CPS and police to decide and we’re in close contact with them. | Raab responded: “Ultimately that must be for the CPS and police to decide and we’re in close contact with them. |
| “I am aware there are no barriers to justice being done in this case. And at every stage during this process I have been, and my officials have been, keen to make sure we can remove any obstacles to justice being done.” | “I am aware there are no barriers to justice being done in this case. And at every stage during this process I have been, and my officials have been, keen to make sure we can remove any obstacles to justice being done.” |
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