Except, of course, that the discretion to block extradition to the US in deserving cases would have been very useful for the Home Secretary when she was thinking of what to do with Gary McKinnon, the Asperger's sufferer accused of hacking into US military computers from his bedroom in London so long ago that he had to use a dial-up modem. On October 16, May announced that McKinnon would not be sent to the US on grounds of ill-health.

At the same time she promised new legislation giving the courts a get-out clause in these cases and in cases where defendants should be tried in the UK instead of being extradited. Whether that will square the circle remains to be seen.