King’s Speech to Promise Blitz on Foreign Criminals in Jails
The King’s Speech on Wednesday is set to promise rapid deportations of foreign offenders to ease England and Wales’ prison overcrowding nightmare.
Ministers plan to push through bold measures slashing the number of foreign prisoners, aiming to free up to 10,000 jail beds in a system bursting at the seams.
New Deportation Deals and Early Release Plans
The government is mulling several tough options, including:
- Prisoner Transfer Deals: Sending offenders back to their home countries to finish their sentences.
- Early Removals: Kicking criminals out before they’ve served their full term.
- Deporting Low-Level Offenders: Fast-tracking the removal of minor foreign criminals.
As of the end of March, foreign nationals made up 12% of prisoners in England and Wales—10,422 inmates—costing taxpayers a hefty £47,000 each per year. That’s nearly half a billion pounds annually wasted on housing, feeding, and rehabilitating foreign offenders.
Justice Secretary Sounds Alarm Over Prison Crisis
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warned last week that jails are on the brink of collapse. Speaking at the new Five Wells prison in Wellingborough, she said overcrowding could trigger “total breakdown of civil law and order” within weeks.
To fight this, thousands of prisoners will face early release—dropping from halfway through their sentences to just 40% served, starting in September. This includes violent offenders jailed under four years for crimes like assault, burglary, and robbery. But the most dangerous—the likes of sex offenders, terrorists, and domestic abusers—won’t be freed early.
Officials say this early release scheme could cut the prison population by 5,000, slashing nearly half the number of foreign offenders locked up now.
Ongoing Talks and Legal Hurdles
The Ministry of Justice is reviving plans from ex-Justice Secretary Alex Chalk to expand deals similar to the one with Albania, where around 40 of the Balkan country’s most dangerous prisoners have been shipped home to serve out their time.
Under the “early removal scheme,” foreign prisoners can be deported up to 18 months earlier than British nationals and face lifetime bans on returning to the UK.
Though many foreign inmates fight deportation through human rights claims—often citing UK family ties—the government is plotting to also deport foreign shoplifters, thieves, and drug dealers instead of prosecuting them.
Foreign prisoners on remand have surged to 3,422, up from 3,132 this time last year, partly due to court case backlogs. The overall remand population has hit a record 16,458, making up nearly 19% of all prisoners.
The government’s aggressive strategy to deport foreign offenders aims to keep the criminal justice system functioning and stop the prison crisis from spiralling out of control.
