MINISTERS will be challenged by the House of Lords today to renegotiate Britain’s extradition terms with the United States as anger grows at the treatment of three former bankers facing jail in Texas.

Peers are likely to vote to reverse the Government’s move to make it easier to extradite suspects to America after the failure of the US to reciprocate under a 2003 treaty.

The Lords move is symbolic, because the amendment is unlikely to reach the Commons until October, but is designed to put extra pressure on ministers over the extradition of the NatWest Three, who face £11 million fraud charges.

David Bermingham, Gary Mulgrew and Giles Darby were told yesterday to report to police at 5.30am on Thursday for a transatlantic flight, on which they will be accompanied by US marshals.

Ministers continued diplomatic moves to encourage the US to ratify the 2003 Extradition Treaty, the terms of which Britain incorporated into law in the Extradition Act 2003.

Margaret Beckett, the Foreign Secretary, was expected to raise the issue with Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, in Washington yesterday. But she has recognised that the Administration can do little in the face of the Senate’s reluctance to sign off the treaty.

Mrs Beckett said: “I understand and accept that this may not be the top American political priority at the moment — they have a few other things on their minds. But I hope they also accept that it is causing us increasing difficulties at home.”

She urged the Senate “to see whether they can, despite all their other preoccupations, find the space to ratify the treaty as everyone had expected them to do”. John Reid, the Home Secretary, also ordered Baroness Scotland of Asthal, a Home Office minister, to fly to Washington in an attempt to persuade senators to ratify the treaty.

No 10 again said yesterday that Tony Blair would not step in to prevent the extradition of the bankers. Mr Blair pledged last week to look into whether British officials could help to secure bail for them so that they could prepare their case.

Mr Blair’s spokesman insisted that there was “parity” between extradition arrangements in Britain and the US, even though the latter retained its test of “probable cause”.

However, in 2003, as Britain was lowering its threshold in line with the treaty, Caroline Flint, a Home Office minister, admitted: “When we make extradition requests, we will need to submit sufficient evidence to establish ‘probable cause’. That is a lower test than prima facie but a higher threshold than we ask of the United States.”

The three men want to be tried in Britain because it is where they live and where the alleged offences took place. They face jail in the US unless they can raise a $1 million bail bond. “We are going to be put on a plane on Thursday morning. There will be US marshals on the plane,” Mr Bermingham told The World at One on BBC Radio 4. “We believe we are going to be flown direct to Houston and on arrival there we will be issued with our orange boiler suits, foot chains and hand chains and, if we are unable to secure bail . . . then we are going to go straight to the federal penitentiary.”

Lord Goodhart, the Liberal Democrat constitutional affairs spokesman, said that he would move amendments today aimed at blocking extradition to the US without evidence of guilt being provided. The move will be backed by Tory, crossbench and some Labour peers.

But Baroness Scotland urged them to delay until she had the chance to make the case to the Americans. “I want to have the opportunity to explain face to face our frustration at the Senate’s delay without having to defend a spurious and wrong-headed amendment designed to score an anti-American party political point.”

WATCHING WITH INTEREST

Among those awaiting extradition to the US on terrorist charges are Abu Hamza al-Masri; Haroon Rashid Aswat, accused of trying to set up a guerrilla training camp in Oregon; and Babar Ahmed, alleged to have raised money to support Islamic fighters in Chechnya and Afghanistan

Explore Law

• Columnists

• Law Panel

• Law Reports

• Student Law

Times Recommends

• Legal school 'earned £1m by exploiting bar course'
• Axe may fall on 5,000 more City lawyers
• Prince Charles named in £81m court battle