The mother of Gary McKinnon has told MPs she is "surprised and pleased" by revelations that the UK government had raised the case of her son with the US ambassador to London. Janis Sharp was speaking to the Home Affairs Select Committee on 30 November 2010, following the leaking by Wikileaks of US documents. MPs also heard from Shami Chakrabarti from the pressure group Liberty, who said that she welcomed the news about Gordon Brown's involvement. However she said it was to the "shame" of previous PM Tony Blair that "the rights of people in Britain were signed away and left to special secret pleadings" Home Secretary Theresa May has already announced that there will be a review of the UK's extradition laws to consider whether current arrangements are "unbalanced." Campaigners say the agreement is biased against the UK and is being used for offences it was not intended to cover. Former Home Secretary David Blunkett told the committee he welcomed the review saying there were always "new cases and new circumstances".
