Scraping the barrel

Disappointing but not surprising that the 'impartial' Open Europe thinktank has scraped the barrel by stirring up claims that the Reform Treaty would allow the suspects accused of murdering Stephen Lawrence to avoid retrial. This is deeply tasteless and untrue.

Open Europe refers to the text of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, which has a line that reads, "No one shall be liable to be tried or punished again in criminal proceedings for an offence for which he or she has already been finally acquitted".

Of course, Open Europe knows full well that the British protocol on the Charter clearly states that it does not create any new rights under British law. If an equivalent right already does exist under UK law, it is because we have chosen to have it through past British decisions, unaffected by the proposed new Reform Treaty. Therefore, this story is a complete red herring and a tasteless attempt to use a shocking racist murder for political propaganda.