A SOUTH Wraxall man facing extradition to the US on fraud charges had his plight raised by an MP in the House of Commons this week.

Speaking during Prime Minister's Questions, Dr Andrew Murrison quizzed Tony Blair about the 2003 Extradition Act on Wednesday.

Under the Act, former NatWest banker Mr Darby, 42, and two other businessmen look likely to be extradited to the US for trial on charges in connection with the scandal involving US energy giant Enron.

The three men deny hatching a plot with Enron's ex-finance chief Andrew Fastow and one-time lieutenant Michael Kopper to persuade NatWest to sell its stake in a Cayman Island investment firm at a knockdown price.

Dr Murrison said the Extradition Act was created to combat terrorism, and not extradite UK citizens to America on any other charges.

Calling Mr Darby's plight a "libertarian issue" Dr Murrison also labelled Tony Blair "a poodle" for towing the US line on terrorism and slammed the Prime Minister for failing to answer his questions.

He said: "Why must our Government roll over every time Mr Bush whispers war on terror?

"We are in serious danger of allowing the US to pluck all sorts of people from this country, charge them, deny them bail and put them on trial months later for crimes that have absolutely nothing to do with terrorism.

"It seems the US Senate is more protective of its citizens than our Parliament is of ours because it's denying us a reciprocal right to remove US citizens to stand trial here."