EU criminals can stay here after we leave

CRIMINALS from the EU will not be booted out of the UK after Brexit if they were sentenced to less than a year in jail, the immigration minister admitted.

Brandon Lewis said offenders who had committed ‘minor infractions’ such as theft would be allowed to remain – giving them full access to schools, hospitals and benefits.

Last month the Government said that after Brexit applicants for ‘settled status’ would be asked to ‘self-declare’ convictions in line with immigration rules for non-EU citizens.

At a House of Lords committee yesterday, Mr Lewis was challenged about the offence threshold. He said the UK ‘already have [a threshhold] in place effectively now, even for non-EU citizens’, adding: ‘That’s what we are seeking to apply.’ Under the current laws, nonEU citizens who are sentenced to more than 12 months’ imprisonment should normally be deported automatically.