United Kingdom Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has proposed that foreign criminals should be deported immediately after they are sentenced.
The proposal would mark a tougher approach than changes already due in September, which will see deportations take place after offenders have served 30% of their sentence instead of the current 50%, Sky News reports.
Under the new plan, the threshold would be reduced to 0%, with implementation subject to parliamentary approval.
The measure would apply to offenders serving fixed-term “determinate” sentences. Authorities would still have the discretion to keep some offenders in custody, particularly if they are considered a threat to the UK’s interests or national security.
Ms Mahmood said: “Our message is clear – if you abuse our hospitality and break our laws, we will send you packing.”
She added: “Deportations are up under this government, and with this new law they will happen earlier than ever before.”
Government figures show almost 5,200 foreign national offenders have been deported since July 2024, an increase of 14% compared to the previous year.
Foreign nationals currently make up around 12% of the UK’s prison population. Under previous Conservative administrations, deportations often depended on prison transfer agreements with other countries, resulting in 945 prisoners being sent abroad between 2010 and 2023.
Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick criticised the proposal, saying: “In Starmer’s topsy-turvy world, investors are fleeing the country in their droves while record numbers of violent and sexual offenders from abroad are put up in our prisons. It’s a farce.
“Yet again Starmer has refused to confront our broken human rights laws. He needs to grow a backbone and change them so we can actually deport these individuals. The safety of the British public is infinitely more important than the ‘rights’ of sick foreign criminals.
“If countries won’t take back their nationals, Starmer should suspend visas and foreign aid. His soft-touch approach isn’t working.”
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