John Hall (Senior Parliamentary Assistant) from Jane Ellison MP's parliamentary office here. I would like to clarify a few points about the case of Shaker Aamer, as Jane has been working closely on this for several years.David Parker is correct; Mr Aamer is a Saudi national but a British resident. His wife and children are British citizens and are Battersea constituents. This is an important distinction, as it means the UK Government has no consular access to Mr Aamer in Guantánamo Bay. Mr Aamer has been held by the US authorities for over 12 years without charge, which is, of course, unacceptable.It is the explicit policy of the British Government to see Mr Aamer returned to the UK to be with his family. UK Government Ministers have said repeatedly and publicly that Mr Aamer should be returned here.Jane also makes many representations on the Aamer family's behalf, in Parliament, in meetings with Ministers, and with US politicians. Mr Aamer's case has been raised by the UK Government with US counterparts at the highest levels many occasions over the past few years. David Cameron raised the case with President Obama directly last year during the G8 summit in Lough Erne. More recently, the Foreign Secretary William Hague reaffirmed to US Secretary John Kerry the importance the UK Government places on the request for Mr Aamer's release, during a visit to Washington DC in February this year. Another important distinction is that both the Bush and Obama administrations have only 'cleared Mr Aamer for transfer’ – not ‘release’. Clearly, they are not willing to release Mr Aamer, as if they were, they would have done so by now. Ultimately, it is for the US authorities to release Mr Aamer, which, at present, they are refusing to do.I hope that this helps clarify the situation. If you have any further questions, please do email Jane at jane.ellison.mp@parliament.uk or write to her at House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA.
John Hall ● 4524d