The law has it right

Should people who are not British citizens and commit crimes be allowed to stay in the country or should they be deported? Most people would agree that they should be kicked out. In fact, the law says as much. Under the UK Borders Act 2007, the Home Secretary must make a deportation order in respect of “foreign criminals” defined as a person who is not a British citizen and is sentenced to a period of imprisonment of 12 months or more. The only caveat is where removal would contravene the UK’S obligations under the Refugee and Human Rights Conventions.

It can be seen that this measure was passed by the last Labour government. Among the MPS supporting its Second Reading were Jeremy Corbyn, Diane Abbott and David Lammy, who was in the government at the time. Yet they were in full cry yesterday denouncing the Home Office deportation to Jamaica of 50 people who have fallen foul of this law.

Their objections have been framed within the context of the scandalous treatment of the so-called Windrush generation, immigrants who had been here since childhood but were threatened with removal despite having done nothing wrong. But this is a false comparison. Under Labour’s law, the deportation is automatic whatever the offender’s nationality.

What is not entirely clear, however, is how equitably this law is being applied. The UK’S ability to deport criminals to EU countries was restricted by the operation of the free movement directive, which contained tests of proportionality and risk. Now that we have left, and once the transition period is at an end, the law should be applied equally.