No-deal Brexit ‘would make deporting foreign criminals harder’

A NO-DEAL Brexit would make deporting foreign criminals harder, according to the Prisons Minister.

Rory Stewart said returning offenders to their country of origin would be a “significantly greater challenge” because the UK would lose 26 prisoner transfer agreements with EU countries.

Speaking during justice questions in the Commons, he said the UK currently has 110 prisoner transfer agreements and 46 of them are compulsory.

He added: “It’s worth pointing out that, were we to leave the EU with no deal and no transition period, we would lose 26 of those and we would face significantly greater challenges in deporting foreign national offenders who constitute nearly 40 per cent of that cohort.”

Tory Brexiteer Philip Hollobone claimed the loss would “make little difference” as “only” 200 prisoners had been compulsorily returned under agreements with EU countries.

He said 10 per cent of the prison population is made up of foreign national offenders.

The MP for Kettering added: “The best way to reduce overcrowding in prisons is to send these people back to prison in their own country.”

Mr Hollobone called on the Government to “negotiate more compulsory prisoner transfer agreements”.

Mr Stewart said plans for new agreements were already under way, and added: “It’s important to understand if you’re going to put someone back into prison in another country that country’s police, that country’s courts, that country’s prison service needs to be on side and that is a diplomatic challenge.”