The Conservative Party has announced plans to deport 40,000 foreign criminals each year, a significant increase from the current 6,000 annual deportations. The policy would introduce automatic deportation for any foreign national sentenced to prison or convicted of anything "beyond the most minor offences".
Citizenship stripping for dual nationals
Under the proposals, British citizenship would be removed from dual nationals who have lived in the UK for less than 15 years and have been jailed for more than five years. The party also backed wider use of live facial recognition technology, which it said would be deployed in 100 "high-crime areas".
Figures on foreign criminals in UK prisons
The Conservative Party claimed there are more than 21,000 "serious foreign criminals" living in communities who have not been deported. According to the Tories, no foreign criminals have been returned to Iran, Sudan, Eritrea or Syria, despite 839 of their nationals being held in prisons in England and Wales. They said only 11 Jamaicans were deported out of 357 in prison, six Iraqis out of 306, and nine Somalis out of 235.
Anyone deported would be banned from returning to the UK unless the Home Secretary granted permission. Exemptions would apply to "low-level violations" such as parking tickets, littering, dog fouling, or failing to hold a TV licence. The Home Secretary would also have the power to offer clemency.
ECHR exit and political reaction
The proposals depend on the Tories' current plans to leave the European Convention on Human Rights, which they argue is being used by courts to keep criminals in the UK. The party has already said it would withdraw from the Human Rights Act and the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: "We must deport all foreign criminals – it's that simple. If someone comes to Britain and commits a crime, once jail time is served, they must go. Labour continues to let serious foreign criminals roam our streets and many go on to commit more serious crimes."
Philp added: "Nobody should be surprised given Labour's Home Secretary previously signed a letter demanding that all flights deporting Jamaican criminals be cancelled. Labour thinks the supposed rights of foreign criminals are more important than protecting the law-abiding British public. That is unjust and unfair."
He concluded: "The next Conservative government will deport every foreign criminal, leave the ECHR so that lawyers can no longer keep them here, and hit any country that refuses to take its criminals back with visa sanctions and aid cuts. We will take deportations from under 6,000 a year to 40,000. We will not apologise for putting the safety of the British public first."
A Labour source responded: "This Government requires no lessons from the Conservatives. Returns of foreign national criminals are up 36% under this Government. Don't listen to their rhetoric – judge them on the reality that they failed to deliver in office."
A Government spokesperson said: "Nearly 10,000 foreign criminals including murderers and rapists have been removed since the last election. Any foreign national who receives a prison sentence in the UK is referred for deportation at the earliest opportunity and will be barred from ever returning."
