No excuse for failing to deport foreign criminals say Liberal Democrats

6.20.49pm UTC (GMT +0000) Sat 22nd Dec 2007

Immigration officials have "no interest" in deporting foreign prisoners who have served less than 12 months in jail, a memo says. The document also says foreign nationals who are awaiting removal for immigration offences could be moved to open prisons, to create space in other jails. The admission was made by Prison Service deputy director general Michael Spurr to prison governors. Ministers first promised tougher measures in 2006 after it was revealed 1,013 foreign prisoners were not considered for deportation last year. They included serious offenders such as murderers and rapists, and the crisis led to the sacking of former home secretary Charles Clarke.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Home Secretary Chris Huhne said "There is no excuse for failing to deport foreign criminals at the end of their sentence, particularly when Charles Clarke was sacked as Home Secretary last year over the failure to process 1,000 foreign convict cases. Deportation needs to be speeded up to stop reoffending and ensure that the prison service is not inadvertently pushed into releasing more serious domestic convicts.