Last week, I wrote about
how I simply didn’t understand the logic of those MPs – mainly Conservative MPs
and the UKIP MP – who are implacably opposed to the European Arrest Warrant,
seemingly just because they hate the EU[1].
It is clear that opting
out of the European Arrest Warrant would make it much
harder to deport foreign criminals. It would also make it more difficult for us
to bring British citizens who have committed crimes abroad back to our country
to face justice.
When I wrote
that, I hadn’t realised quite how incompetent this government is in dealing
with foreign criminals. That was until I’d got round to reading the latest
National Audit Office (NAO) report [2].
Fewer foreign criminals
have been deported each and every year under Cameron and Clegg than was the
case in 2010. Last year, there were 375 fewer deportations, a drop of 7% [3]. And, even more worryingly, fewer deportation orders
were being served.
In 2010, there were 143
days between a deportation order and the offender leaving the country, but last
year it increased to 187 days. Why?
NAO
found that more than a third of failed removals were due to poor processing.
They included failures to fill in the forms, to get the necessary papers and
even to book the plane tickets that were needed. It is extraordinary that the
government is trying to take credit for cutting bureaucracy and public
expenditure without drawing attention to the shambles it is creating by doing
so.
More
foreign criminals have disappeared, too. About 190 absconded last year, and
there has been a 6% increase since 2010. Most concerning, 58 highly dangerous
foreign criminals that have gone missing over the last 4 years. Yet according
to the NAO report, there are only 11 staff working on 700 cases, 10 of whom are
very junior.
It’s difficult to avoid
the conclusion that some of our representatives have no interest in arresting
UK criminals who have fled abroad and then bringing them to justice, and little
interest in efficiently and effectively deporting foreign criminals who have
been convicted here.
Aren’t they the
criminals’ friends?
[1]
http://clivebettsmp.blogspot.co.uk/
Tuesday, 11 November 2014
