Conservatives’ ‘crackdown on foreign criminals’ would affect 10 people a year, figures show

Proposed law would give harsher punishments to foreign citizens who violate deportation orders, but few are convicted of crime

Priti Patel, the home secretary, said the government would increase the punishment for breaching deportation orders (Getty)

A new law the home secretary claimed would crack down on foreign criminals and “make our country safer” currently applies to an average of 10 people a year, figures reveal.

Priti Patel said the government would increase the punishment for breaching deportation orders to “deter foreign criminals from returning to the UK”.

But official statistics analysed by The Independent show that only a handful of people have been convicted of the crime in recent years.

Only four people were prosecuted for entering the UK in breach of a deportation order in 2013, with the figure rising to 28 last year. The annual average is 10 prosecutions a year.

The change would be enacted through a new Foreign National Offenders Bill, which was among numerous law proposed in Monday’s Queen’s Speech.

“We have been a soft touch on foreign criminals for too long,” Ms Patel said. “The sentence for breaching a deportation order is far too low at the moment and many criminals conclude that it’s worth trying to get back in the country when all you get is a slap on the wrist.

“Deterring foreign criminals from re-entering the country and putting those that do behind bars for longer will make our country safer.”

In a press briefing ahead of her speech, Downing Street said the sentence increase would affect an estimated 400 people a year but it was not clear how the figure was calculated.

It was one of 26 bills in the Queen’s Speech, which had a heavy focus on crime and justice.

Proposals included longer sentences for violent criminals, the delayed Domestic Abuse Bill, a legal duty on public bodies “to prevent and reduce serious violence”, increased protections for police officers and punishment for murderers who withhold information about their victims.

The government also announced the introduction of emergency legislation designed to allow the arrest of foreign criminals on the continent, if the UK loses access to the European Arrest Warrant system after Brexit.

Senior police officers said they asked ministers to change the law so they can detain wanted foreign citizens on sight and avoid the risk of them absconding.

If Britain is excluded from the European Arrest Warrant it will fall back on Interpol “red notices”, which mean officers do not have the power to immediately detain suspects and have to apply for a court warrant.

The government proposed an Extradition (Provisional Arrest) Bill to replicate the powers, but it will only initially apply to criminals wanted by Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the US, Switzerland and Liechtenstein.

Political opponents called the Queen’s Speech “farcical” and accused the Conservatives of electioneering ahead of a potential government breakdown.

Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, said: “It is just an uncosted wish list which the government has no intention and no means to deliver, and nothing more than a pre-election party political broadcast.”

Criminal justice campaigners have criticised a focus on sentence increases, arguing that there is no proven link between harsher punishments and falling crime and that jailing more people will worsen a current crisis.

Others blamed the Conservatives for contributing to rising violence by cutting funding to police and the wider criminal justice system.

Simon Davis, president of the Law Society of England and Wales, said: “Due to years of neglect, it is a system at breaking point. Tens of thousands of suspects are being released under investigation with neither conditions nor limits. Crucial evidence is not disclosed in court until the last minute, often leading to adjournments. In England and Wales more than half of courts have closed.”

He said tougher sentencing was unlikely to cause “any serious reduction in crime” or improve the rehabilitation of criminals already in prison.

“Only by investing across the board can the government reignite confidence in our ailing criminal justice system – or risk more crime falling through the cracks of investigation and prosecution,” Mr Davis said.

The Revolving Doors charity, which works to prevent reoffending, attacked the government for binning the Ministry of Justice’s own proposals under David Gauke to replace ineffective short jail sentences.

“There is nothing in these proposals that merits the term ‘law and order’,” a spokesperson said. “The prime minister should actually get smart on crime and do what we know works to make people safer.”

The Local Government Association also hit out at the proposed duty to prevent serious violence, saying that increased funding was needed to make meaningful change following cuts to youth services and public health budgets.

The government said it had not yet started consulting on a victims’ law to improve support and court outcomes, four years after it was first promised.

“The Queen’s Speech included warm words about more support and protections for victims of crime, but we’ve heard this before,” said Claire Waxman, the London victims commissioner. “I am calling for urgent meaningful action finally to deliver a victims’ law to ensure legally enforceable rights for victims of crime, giving them the confidence to report to the police, and so that they are properly supported through the criminal justice system and beyond.”

A Home Office spokesman said the 400 figure related to the total number of people breaching deportation orders each year, rather than those prosecuted - a measure only used in the most serious cases.

“Increasing sentences for people who breach deportation orders will mean prosecutions are more effective in deterring foreign national offenders from returning to the UK, disrupting organised criminal networks and reducing the risk of harm to the public," a statement said.