The decision by the House of Lords to reject US attempts to extradite Ian Norris, the former head of Morgan Crucible, on price-fixing charges should be greatly ap­plauded. Regrettably, however, this decision does little to redress the continuing imbalance in Britain’s legal relationship with the US.

The US Department of Justice had sought to extradite Mr Norris for participating in a cartel for carbon products in the 1990s, while he was chief executive of the engineering group.