PLAN TO DITCH BLOC’S ARREST WARRANT

BRITAIN will withdraw from the European Arrest Warrant and forge a new criminal justice partnership with Europe.

Boris Johnson’s blueprint for an EU deal would see a fast-track extradition procedure with “further safeguards”.

Currently a warrant issued in any EU country to arrest a person is valid throughout the union.

Government sources say it is a chance to do “things better, including for witnesses and victims”.The UK wants law enforcement – and other issues – covered by separate arrangements from a trade deal, but the EU wants a single agreement.

The National Police Chiefs’ Council said it wanted to “retain the capabilities” of EU’s tools and will seek to maintain “close cooperation” with Europe.

Yvette Cooper MP, the chair of the home affairs select committee, said it was “astounding” that the Government believes its plans will boost safety “when we have been told time and time again by senior police officers and security experts that the opposite is true”.

A RECORD number of migrants are moving to Britain from outside the EU, figures revealed yesterday.

Some 379,000 people arrived in the last year and the net figure stands at 250,000, the highest level for 16 years.

Net migration from within the bloc rose to 64,000 up 7,000. Half of non-EU migrants (51 per cent) were international students, the figures suggested.

Jay Lindop, of the Office for National Statistics who compiled the data, said EU net migration has fallen while nonEU net migration has gradually increased since 2013, adding: “Immigration for study has gone up and is now the main reason for migration.

“This is driven by more nonEU students arriving, specifically Chinese and Indian. Since 2016, immigration for work has decreased because of fewer EU citizens arriving for a job.”

Immigration minister Kevin Foster said the figures showed “the importance of taking back control of our borders” and said the Government would bring down overall migration.

IF you ask any Member of Parliament about rough sleeping, their mind will inevitably turn towards the dozens of rough sleepers in Westminster.

Walking through the Tube station each morning on the way to work can be truly distressing.

It is a moral stain on our society that right next to Parliament, in one of the most prosperous and successful cities in the world, we still have vulnerable people sleeping on our streets, facing all of the dangers that come with not having a safe place to call home.

That is why this Government has set out a bold and ambitious commitment to eradicate rough sleeping once and for all.

This is a personal priority for me and for the Prime Minister too. This Government will work tirelessly to bring this to an end.

The number of rough sleepers on a single night has fallen by nine per cent across England.

This builds on last year’s reduction, which was the first fall in eight years. It was encouraging that areas funded by the Government’s intensive Rough Sleeping Initiative saw a 12 per cent decrease.

Remarkable

Progress is being made. Some areas have seen a remarkable reduction: 43 per cent in Birmingham, 26 per cent in Manchester and 55 per cent in Cornwall.

Importantly, London saw a decrease of 11 per cent – the first fall in numbers for six years, and the largest drop since 2010.

I want to pay tribute to the hard work of charities, councils and volunteers. They represent all that is best about this nation.

And we have passed the single most important homelessness legislation in decades, our landmark Homelessness Reduction Act, which seeks to prevent people from ending up on the street in the first place.

The Government has already committed £437million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the next two years.

The Prime Minister and I yesterday announced an extra £236million to help get 6,000 more rough sleepers off the street. That will be backed by over £30million in funding from NHS England for mental health.

We’ve appointed Dame Louise Casey to act as an independent adviser to lead an urgent review into the causes of this problem.

As the father of three young girls, I want them to grow up thinking of rough sleeping as something consigned to history.

That goal is within our grasp, and I will not rest until we have achieved it.