Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said official guidance should be changed to allow police to release the ethnicity or immigration status of criminal suspects. She confirmed the government had asked the Law Commission to review the rules six months ago, amid a row over information withheld in a Warwickshire rape case.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Cooper said the guidance needed to change, noting that the College of Policing and Home Office officials were already working on it. She pointed to a case in May where Iranian nationals were charged with spying offences and the Crown Prosecution Service revealed details about how they arrived in the UK.
The issue was reignited after George Finch, the Reform UK leader of Warwickshire County Council, said police were refusing to confirm details about two suspects charged after an alleged rape in Nuneaton. The suspects, Ahmad Mulakhil and Mohammad Kabir, face charges including rape and kidnap. Finch has claimed both are asylum seekers.
Warwickshire Police said in a statement that national guidance did not include sharing ethnicity or immigration status once someone is charged. Cooper said the data collected on crimes by ethnicity and immigration status was 'patchy' and that changes had been started late last year to improve robustness and transparency.
She cautioned that ministers must avoid prejudicing trials by releasing information, but stressed: 'We do think there should be greater transparency... including on issues around nationality, including on some of those asylum issues.'
