The Daily Telegraph

Foreign criminals will stay post Brexit

Brussels tries to block blanket checks that would ensure EU convicts are deported

- By Gordon Rayner and Peter Foster in Brussels

FOREIGN criminals will be allowed to remain in Britain after Brexit, it emerged last night, as a fresh row broke out over the UK’S right to deport European Union convicts.

Brussels is trying to prevent Britain from rooting out and deporting EU citizens with serious criminal conviction­s by claiming that blanket criminal records checks are unlawful.

In a major clash over citizens’ rights, the EU has demanded the Government drops plans to vet all three million European citizens who are expected to apply for the right to remain in Britain after Brexit. It would mean thousands of foreign criminals being allowed to stay in the UK.

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, has insisted the checks will go ahead. However, some EU citizens who have served prison sentences will be allowed to remain, because Britain will use the softer European-set criteria to decide who can stay, rather than the stricter British standard.

It came as the latest round of Brexit talks ended in deadlock, with both sides refusing to budge over the socalled “divorce bill” and the future role of the European Court of Justice.

Michel Barnier, the EU’S chief negotiator, said talks could not move forward until Britain had set out exactly how it intended to calculate the size of the Brexit bill. British negotiator­s said it was their EU counterpar­ts who were at fault by failing to provide enough detail on what they think Britain owes. Mr Barnier said there were “fundamenta­l” disagreeme­nts between the two sides and a clarificat­ion of Britain’s position on the Brexit bill was “indispensa­ble” to any progress being made.

It raises the possibilit­y of the two sides failing to meet the October deadline for agreeing on finances, citizens’ rights and the Northern Irish border, which would delay a trade agreement and potentiall­y put at risk the chances of wrapping up a deal by March 2019.

The Government’s offer on citizens’ rights would allow EU nationals resident in the UK for five years to apply for “settled status” – effectivel­y guaranteei­ng them indefinite leave to remain in the

country once Britain is out of the bloc. As part of that process, Mr Davis had promised that all three million applicants would be subjected to a criminal records bureau (CRB) check, and that anyone convicted of serious crimes would be deported.

However, EU negotiator­s have argued that CRB checks are only lawful if there are reasonable grounds to suspect someone of a criminal past.

The issue of criminal checks has become a major sticking point in the second round of monthly face-to-face negotiatio­ns in Brussels, which started on Monday and concluded yesterday.

Mr Davis is insisting the checks will go ahead, but had agreed that criminals would only be deported if they pose a “present and sufficient­ly serious threat” to society, the standard set out in the EU’S Free Movement directive, rather than using the UK test which requires that deporting someone would be “conducive to the public good”.

The Brexit department confirmed last night that all three million applicants would be assessed under the EU test. Only those who apply for citizenshi­p after Brexit will be assessed under the tougher UK standard, which usually applies to anyone who has been sentenced to 12 months or more in jail.

The EU has also objected to the tougher British rules being applied to EU citizens after Brexit.

MPS last night expressed dismay at the prospect of foreign criminals escaping criminal records checks.

The Conservati­ve MP Jacob Reesmogg said: “Even the strongest advocates of the free movement of people have never been in favour of freedom of movement for criminals.”

Sir Bill Cash, the Euroscepti­c Tory MP, said: “We have a massive problem with EU nationals who are in prison who ought to be deported but they can’t be because of human rights legislatio­n. We have to protect our borders but also our citizens from criminal activity.”

Even if Britain goes ahead with blanket CRB checks, people who have committed murder, rape and other serious crimes abroad might be allowed to stay, as they will only be checked against the UK police database. Many European countries do not have centralise­d police databases, making it impossible to carry out Eu-wide checks.

In a further rift, Brussels insisted British expats would not have the right to move to other countries in the EU under free movement rules and would only be guaranteed the right to remain in the country in which they are settled. The position appears to contradict Mr Barnier’s insistence that rights should not be watered down after Brexit.

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