Tories announce policy to deport all foreign nationals with criminal convictions

All foreign nationals in the UK who receive a criminal conviction would be deported under a new Conservative party policy. The Tory plan would introduce an amendment to the government’s borders bill that would remove the current threshold, in which foreign criminals are only removed after being handed a prison sentence of one year.

The party hopes this amendment, which would need support from Labour MPs, would also make it easier for the government to deport foreign offenders by ending exceptions that had been granted by the European court of human rights.

The policy would apply to foreign nationals, including those seeking asylum, and anyone who has been charged with, or convicted of, immigration offences.

While Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, classed the proposals as “simple”, refugee groups described them as “ludicrously unworkable”.

Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, said: “This amendment is not only terrifying, it is ludicrously unworkable and blatant political grandstanding. It appears to demand the deportation of all people fleeing war and persecution who have no other option than to take irregular routes to reach safety here.

“Politicians must stop threatening people with the sort of hostile and extreme policies and rhetoric that only serve to inflame racial hatred and encourage violence on our streets.”

Amnesty International UK challenged the government to not only oppose the policy but scrap “unworkable immigration laws from the past few years that undercut international law obligations”, urging Labour to adopt a new course.

Steve Valdez-Symonds, the charity’s migrant rights director, said: “These tabled amendments present an unflinchingly dog-whistle commitment to hostility for human rights and the people whose lives are most dependent on them.”

The Tories also hope to table an amendment to require the government to stop issuing visas to nationals from countries who do not accept back their own citizens, including criminals, with a change to section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971.

Imran Hussain, the executive director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said: “We would be criminalising refugees for being on boats, trying to remove them and then finding out that they cannot be removed, leaving people languishing in detention. It’s a recipe for chaos and huge costs.”

The shadow home secretary added: “We can’t allow endless appeals and prevarication – the government has a duty to protect British citizens from these often dangerous offenders. And where another country won’t take back their own citizens – including criminals – then the government must stop issuing new visas to people from those countries.”