Tories: Free movement will swamp jails

LABOUR plans to keep freedom of movement would see 15,000 serious criminals passing through Britain’s jails in the next decade, a Home Office Minister has said.

The surge would require building 3,000 extra cells – the equivalent of four new prisons – at a cost of £600 million, according to Security Minister Brandon Lewis.

There are currently 4,028 EU nationals in our jails, costing £160 million a year to house. But citing Conservative Party analysis and modelling, Mr Lewis claims that will soar to 7,000 by 2029.

This number would rise further if Albania joined the EU – it is currently a candidate country. More than ten per cent of foreign prisoners in England and Wales are Albanian and over 7 per cent of the UK’s Albanian male population are currently in prison.

Labour pledged to maintain and extend free movement rights at their conference in September, but Ministers argue this would make it almost impossible to deport foreign criminals from the EU, even those guilty of the most serious crimes.

Jeremy Corbyn’s team have been rocked by bitter infighting over immigration, with union baron Len McCluskey criticising plans to widen free movement rules as wrong, while Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott fully backs them.

The party’s manifesto is expected to state freedom of movement will continue if the UK stays in the EU, but would be subject to negotiations about the future relationship if we leave.

However, a conference policy motion passed by the party vowed to ‘maintain and extend free movement rights… and close all detention centres’.

At the time Mr Corbyn insisted: ‘What comes out of conference I will adhere to. I was elected to empower the members of the party. So if conference makes a decision I will not walk away from it and I will act accordingly.’

Last night Mr Lewis said: ‘Jeremy Corbyn has said that if he becomes Prime Minister, he will maintain and extend EU free movement. His plans would mean continued free movement for European criminals and foreign gangs. This is dangerous and British taxpayers would foot the bill.’

He added: ‘A Conservative majority Government will bring down overall migration.’