Decades of immigration law would be set aside under plans to ensure foreign offenders would be removed from the country
The Tories want to send serious foreign offenders out of the UK (Image: Getty Images)
Conservatives have vowed to deport “every foreign criminal” convicted of all but the most minor offences with 40,000 offenders a year ejected from Britain. The Tories promise a “complete departure from 40 years of immigration law” and state the number of “serious foreign criminals” living in British communities who should have been removed from the UK has risen by more than a fifth under Labour to 21,294.
Kemi Badenoch’s party has announced its plan to ensure foreign offenders leave the country as she prepares for next week’s party conference in Birmingham.
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A Conservative analysis found that Labour sent “fewer than 6,000 foreign criminals back” last year and none was returned to Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, or Syria. This is despite “839 of their nationals sitting in prisons in England and Wales”. The Tories found “just 11 Jamaicans were deported of the 357 in our jails, along with six Iraqis of the 306 and nine Somalis of the 235 incarcerated”.
They claim that if the UK quits the European Convention on Human Rights the country will be able to take five key steps to get rid of foreign criminals.
The five-step plan to deport foreign criminals
First, any foreign national would face “automatic deportation” for “any criminal offence” with the exception of violations such as “parking tickets, littering, dog fouling or failing to have a TV licence”. All criminals removed would be permanently banned from returning to the UK without the prior approval of the Home Secretary.
Second, any country that refused to take back its nationals would face visa sanctions and cuts to overseas aid. The Conservatives say a “cautious approach” would be taken to “returning women to Afghanistan”.
The Home Secretary would have the power to suspend a deportation where there is “a risk of death or persecution” or “exceptional compassionate circumstances”.
Third, naturalised dual nationals who have been jailed for more than five years and have lived in the UK for less than 15 years would be stripped of their British citizenship.
Fourth, immigration checks would become part of routine police work. Officers would be required to check the immigration status of those they “arrest and detain”.
Fifth, live facial recognition would be “rolled out to 100 high-crime areas” and criminals who are in Britain illegally would be “detained and deported”.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wants to purge the country of foreign criminals (Image: PA)
The Conservatives also plan to repeal the Human Rights Act and leave the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings if they are returned to power. They plan to change modern slavery laws so removals are not blocked and foreign criminals would be “banned from claiming asylum”.
Further measures include abolishing the Immigration Tribunal and ending immigration legal aid.
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… We will not apologise for putting the safety of the British public first.”
A Government spokesperson said: “Nearly 10,000 foreign criminals including murderers and rapists have been removed since the last election – a 36% increase on the 21 months prior. 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.”
A Home Office source added: “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 of they failed to deliver in office.”
Andy Burnham faces his first revolt – Angela Rayner just couldn’t keep her mouth shut
If you thought all was sweetness and light in Andy Burnham’s Labour, you haven’t been watching Angela Rayner.
Angela Rayner has a nerve, going for a fellow cabinet minister (Image: Getty)
The Labour Party conference begins in Liverpool today and on the face of it, it’s going to be very different to the last one. A year ago, Andy Burnham was persona non grata. Ministers took turns sneering at the King of the North’s ambitions to become PM, while pledging their loyalty to Sir Keir Starmer. You won’t find many Starmer loyalists today, although one or two will be drifting about, muttering old mantras about “difficult decisions”. But behind the smiles, frustrations are growing and knives are being sharpened.
No prizes for guessing who’s first to wield hers. It had to be Angela Rayner, didn’t it? Probably the last thing Burnham needed right now was for Red Ange to take on the most toxic subject of the lot: immigration. And use it to shaft a senior member of his cabinet – Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood. Rayner attacked Mahmood’s migrant crackdown right on the eve of conference, despite knowing exactly what a fuss it would cause. She repeated her criticism of plans to make foreign care workers wait 15 years for permanent residence, saying Labour had “changed the goalposts”.
It’s not the first time she’s lunged for Mahmood. Rayner knows she has plenty of support, which only makes it worse. More than 100 Labour MPs have opposed Mahmood’s reforms, while trade unions are also campaigning against them. Unison is holding a migrant care worker rally in Liverpool on Monday. Lucky Mahmood.
I admire Mahmood, a minister who rolls up her sleeves and cracks on, running the hardest Whitehall department of the lot. She’s the only one who stuck to her job in a sea of incompetence that was the Starmer regime. She doesn’t indulge in political posturing, unlike our firebrand Housing Secretary.
Many will sympathise with Rayner’s complaint that it’s unfair to recruit care workers from overseas, then tighten settlement rules later. But this is a tough area, and Mahmood has to make tough decisions. She doesn’t deserve to have Rayner exploit the issue to milk applause from the left.
It’s the last thing Andy Burnham needs as well. He’s shied away from toxic issues like this one, hoping to treat the nation to some feel-good political fun. Then up steps Rayner at the worst possible time.
When it comes to stepping on the toes of other cabinet ministers, Rayner has form. Remember how she handed a list of tax demands to former chancellor Rachel Reeves? While doing incoherent things with her own tax return. Knows no shame, our Ange. And she won’t be the only Labour delegate involved in a bit of red-on-red brutality in Liverpool.
Starmer’s former business secretary Peter Kyle is arguing for a more vigorous approach to wealth creation. That won’t win friends on the backbenches. They only want to tax wealth, not generate it.
Starmer’s former chief secretary Darren Jones, the man who pointed out that Burnham’s plan to cut VAT on electricity bills wasn’t properly funded, may also be willing to speak a bit of truth to the new power.
Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds has even argued that the EU isn’t the answer to all Britain’s problems, which will have delegates blocking their ears. Then there’ll be the usual rabble of leftie activists, ranting on about Gaza, demanding Burnham nationalises the water companies, berating North Sea drilling and, of course, having a pop at Mahmood.
Plus there’ll be some real crackpots who are still furious that Burnham didn’t make Ed Miliband chancellor and destroy British capitalism for good. Instead, they’ve got boring old John Healey, banging on about sticking to fiscal rules. None of the faithful flocking to Liverpool wants to hear that. Meet the new Labour Party, increasingly similar to the old one. Angela Rayner hasn’t changed her spots at all.
Andy Burnham’s new bombshell plan could mark ‘beginning of the end’ for PM
The prime minister has vowed to reform the social care system.
Andy Burnham has vowed to reform the social care system (Image: Getty)
Good Morning Britain presenter Susanna Reid has voiced concerns that if Andy Burnham‘s new plans involve targeting pensioners, then it could mark the “beginning of the end” of his time in office. On Sunday (September 27), the prime minister said he is prepared to make unpopular choices and hike taxes to fund an NHS-style social care system. However, he has been warned against scrapping the triple lock, which ensures the state pension rises each year by whichever is highest of inflation, average earnings growth or 2.5%.
Susanna, 55, highlighted the major problem Keir Starmer faced when he came into office after removing the winter fuel allowance for pensioners, sparking widespread outrage. She argued that while the social care system needs to be reformed, questions remain over how it will be funded. “Unfortunately, there is a massive issue about how we pay for it because it would cost billions,” Susanna said. Of course, that would be a worthwhile investment, but that money has to come from somewhere.”
A Good Morning Britain viewer who got in touch via WhatsApp said: “I hope Burnham doesn’t make the same mistake which Starmer did by targeting pensioners who don’t get much, especially if they only get the state pension.”
Susanna explained: “Because it could be a removal of the triple lock on pensioners. The comparison is being made with Starmer coming in and removing the winter fuel allowance. That was the beginning of the end for that prime minister.”
Ed Balls added: “That is right. Andy Burnham is passionate about this. He says he is going to rip the plaster off. He has been campaigning for a tax rise or more money for social care for the past 15 years.”
Susanna acknowledged: “It’s really honourable and we all want social care fixed.”
Ed pointed out where Starmer went wrong, arguing that he won the election on a manifesto pledge to retain the winter fuel payment, only to go back on his word and scrap it after taking office.
Susanna Reid pointed out that Keir Starmer’s decision to scrap the winter fuel payment marked the “beginning of the end” of his time in office (Image: ITV)
The presenter went on: “Andy Burnham is not going to make that mistake because he is going to announce on Tuesday what will be in the next manifesto for Labour.
“He says the only solution on social care is to break the manifesto from the last time round. That either means a rise in income tax, National Insurance or VAT to pay for it.”
“Or it means something else, and everybody is saying in the papers today that it looks likely that he will drop the triple lock on pensions.
“That therefore means pensioners will end up, in some sense, paying for this. What Andy Burnham did yesterday on the Laura Kuenssberg show was announce the most central, controversial proposal.”
Ed added: “It is absolutely massive.”
Susanna weighed in: “Yes, because there is a huge row about how we pay for our defence. And can you do both of them?”