THE mother of accused computer hacker Gary McKinnon is to stand against Justice Secretary Jack Straw at the General Election.

Janis Sharp blames Mr Straw, who was Foreign Secretary when Britain's current extradition treaty was agreed with the United States, for her son's legal predicament.

Mr McKinnon, 44, from London, is challenging a US bid to extradite him on charges of hacking into highly sensitive military computers.

"(Mr Straw) is personally at least as much to blame for the ongoing legal travesty and betrayal of British sovereignty as any of his Labour Government colleagues," Ms Sharp said on the Free Gary McKinnon campaign website.

She added: "He was Foreign Secretary at the time of the UK Government's secret extradition treaty negotiations with the US Government, which resulted in the Extradition Act 2003, which Gary McKinnon and other extradition cases to the USA have fallen foul of.

"The fact that the Gary McKinnon extradition case has exceeded the lifetime of this current Parliament is a scandal which belies any promises of swift or fair justice made by this Labour government."

Ms Sharp, from Hertfordshire, said she will stand in Mr Straw's Blackburn constituency as an independent focusing on civil liberties.

A spokesman for Mr Straw told the BBC it was right that people with differing views were able to stand in the election.

He added: "I am sure there will be lots of views heard over the next few weeks and it is good that people are able to do that."