Foreign prisoners to be deported earlier under law change
The move will apply to foreign criminals subject to the early removal scheme, when prisoners are serving fixed-term sentences.
It will mean prisoners with no right to stay in the UK could be deported after serving 30% of their sentence, instead of 50% currently.
Those serving sentences for terror-related offences are excluded from the scheme.
According to the Ministry of Justice, foreign offenders make up around 12% of the prison population and removing them from the country earlier could free up around 500 jail cells a year.
A prison place costs on average £54,000, the department added.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: 'With prisons close to bursting, I'm clear we shouldn't be giving bed and board to foreign criminals with no right to be here.
'These changes will get more of them on planes out of the country much sooner, saving taxpayers' money and keeping our streets safe as part of our Plan for Change.
'This Government's message is crystal clear – if you come here and break our laws, you'll be sent packing in record time.'
The window to deport foreign nationals from 18 months before the end of their jail term has also been increased to 48 months.
Once deported, offenders are banned from re-entering the UK and any attempt to return will re-activate their original prison sentence.
The move comes after the Government agreed to implement a raft of reforms following an independent sentencing review by former justice secretary David Gauke.
The new legislative measures were among the recommendations.
Criminals could also be eligible for deportation earlier after sentencing reforms yet to be introduced into legislation.
The changes being introduced on Wednesday, if approved by Parliament, are expected to come into force by September.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Powys County Times
32 minutes ago
- Powys County Times
Labour MP reintroduces bid for Hillsborough Law after campaign stalls
A Labour MP who was at the Hillsborough disaster has renewed the efforts of campaigners to introduce a 'Hillsborough Law' which would aim to prevent cover-ups after major disasters, as he accused the Prime Minister of inaction. Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby) was at the disaster aged 16 in 1989, which led to the deaths of 97 football fans during the FA Cup semi-final between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest at the football ground in Sheffield. The MP introduced a Public Authority (Accountability) Bill centred around a duty of candour which would force public bodies to co-operate with official inquiries and tell the truth after major disasters – or face criminal sanctions. The Government had introduced a similar Bill which was criticised by campaigners and legal experts for not having a legally binding duty of candour. It was pulled over concerns related to who the duty of candour would apply to. Campaigners fear another Bill could be reintroduced that would still be insufficient as it would not be shared with families beforehand. Mr Byrne said: 'Little did I, or anybody there that day, know that we were walking into a national disaster that would leave 97 men, women and children dead, hundreds more injured and countless families devastated for generations. 'What unfolded that day was not a tragic accident. It was a disaster caused by police failures, and compounded by one of the most shameful state cover-ups this country has ever seen.' Sir Keir Starmer was accused by Mr Byrne of breaking a pledge he had made twice on the issue. Labour had said the Bill would be passed before the latest anniversary of the tragedy in April, but that was missed. Mr Byrne said: 'In 2022, Keir Starmer stood before the people of Liverpool at the Labour Party conference and pledged, and I quote, 'One of my first acts as prime minister will be to put the Hillsborough Law on the statue book'. 'He said the same again as Prime Minister in September 2024, not a Hillsborough law, the Hillsborough Law. That pledge filled our hearts with hope, it promised an end to the culture of denial and delay and decades of deceit. And make no mistake, this today is the Hillsborough Law.' Sir Keir was asked about the issue at Prime Minister's Questions, before Mr Byrne spoke in Parliament. Labour MP for Liverpool Riverside Kim Johnson and Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey accused the Government of planning to table a 'watered-down' Bill. The Prime Minister said he had been speaking to families personally about what would come forward. 'This is a really serious issue, it is important that we get it right,' he said. 'I am fully committed to introducing a Hillsborough Law, including a legal duty of candour for public servants and criminal sanctions for those that refuse to comply. 'We will bring this forward, I just want to take the time to get it right and then put it before the House.' Mr Byrne's father was in the public gallery to see his son's Bill presented, alongside fellow campaigners for a Hillsborough law. He was seriously injured in the disaster and had to crowdfund in pubs near Anfield to raise money for the campaign. His son, who has been an MP in Liverpool since 2019, said: 'The law cannot bring back the 97, it cannot erase the decades of pain, nor undo the trauma inflicted by callous lies and institutional neglect. 'But it can stop this from ever happening again, it can give truth, a fight for justice, and restore some of the faith lost, not just in the system but in the very idea of justice. 'So today can I say loud and clear to the Prime Minister, don't let this moment slip away. Don't let your promise made in Liverpool be broken in Westminster. 'Let us honour the 97 and so many others, not just with remembrance, but with change.'
The Independent
34 minutes ago
- The Independent
Has Kemi Badenoch finally shown the killer instinct to save her as Tory leader?
Ever since Kemi Badenoch became Tory leader, her many Conservative critics have claimed she has failed to make any impact. Any number of backbenchers have been only too willing, albeit usually under the cowardly cover of anonymity, to claim she is going nowhere. Principal among their complaints is that she never seems to get the better of her weekly parliamentary jousts with Keir Starmer. Time and again, she asks the wrong question, chooses the wrong topic, and lacks the wit to seize on any missteps by the Prime Minister, they moan. Why can't she give Starmer and co both barrels – just like showman Nigel Farage does on a regular basis? It is not a criticism likely to be made of her again anytime soon. Not after her comprehensive filleting of Starmer over his defeat by Labour welfare rebels. Initially, Starmer fended off Badenoch's barbs at him. It looked as though she would be repulsed yet again. You could imagine her Tory detractors already licking their lips, muttering, 'She can't even score an open goal.' But Badenoch wasn't finished. Starmer was merely the hors d'oeuvres. She took her knife to the person sitting behind Starmer, Rachel Reeves, asking him to guarantee she was safe in her job. Starmer the lawyer should have seen it coming a mile off. It's the oldest trick in the political book: he could have answered with a categorical yes. But he didn't. In political terms, he left Reeves drifting in the wind. The chancellor's emotional and distraught response signalled that Badenoch had scored a direct hit. A rare moment in such parliamentary exchanges, which, for the most part, have nothing to do with democracy or debate and are all about posturing, platitudes and pantomime politics. Knockout blows are about as common as someone scoring in the Eton Wall Game – about one per decade. Badenoch didn't just score, she smashed the ball through the back of the net. The most important consequence of today's events is how, indeed whether, Reeves can survive such a harrowing and humbling public ordeal. And whether Starmer can re-establish his and his administration's personal and political authority. That is all in the balance. But there can be no doubt that eight months after becoming opposition leader, Badenoch has arrived on the big stage. Her stock reply to complaints that she has not made her mark as a leader has been that it took heroine Margaret Thatcher years to do so. Thatcher became a formidable parliamentary performer, but it took her a long time. In her early years as opposition leader, she was frequently outwitted by Labour Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Thatcher's Tory critics said it showed she wasn't up to it. Just like Badenoch's Conservative critics. They won't be making the same criticism again anytime soon. In blasting open the fault line between Starmer and Reeves with a lethal precision, a skill most thought was not in her armoury, Badenoch has at long last given demoralised Conservatives reasons to be cheerful.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Starmer pledges to review minimum barrier heights in multi-storey car parks
Sir Keir Starmer has pledged to review the safety of multi-storey car parks, following the death of a 15-year-old boy in Liverpool. Gabriel Santer died after falling from the top of a multi-storey car park in the city centre in October 2020. The Prime Minister said he wanted to 'prevent future tragedies', and the Government will conduct a call for evidence on minimum barrier heights in car parks. This came after Labour MP Peter Dowd urged Sir Keir to back his calls to increase the minimum required height of guarding. Mr Dowd's Multi-Storey Car Parks (Safety) Bill also proposes 24-hour staffing of such car parks, to improve safety. During Prime Minister's Questions, Mr Dowd, MP for Bootle said: 'Gabe Santer, a 15-year-old, fell to his death from a multi-storey car park in Liverpool in 2020. He's one of the many dying in such tragic circumstances, including in my constituency. 'My Multi-Storey Car Parks (Safety) Bill seeks to prevent such deaths. 'Will the Government look carefully at its content as part of a national suicide prevention strategy?' The Prime Minister replied: 'The answer is yes, we will look at the content of it, and I'm grateful to him for raising it.' He added: 'Across the House, we have all got tragic experience of suicide, and our thoughts are with Gabe's family and with his friends. 'We will conduct a call for evidence on part K of the building regulations about minimum guarding heights, so that necessary protections are in place to prevent future tragedies. We will also look at the contents of the Bill.' Defence minister Maria Eagle previously presented 'Gabe's Law' to Parliament in 2023, in a bid to reform the safety of car parks.
