Priti’s failed crackdown on foreign criminals

Priti Patel likes to talk a good game on foreign crooks. In numerous tweets and briefings, she’s railed against those who ‘poison our communities, ruin lives and cash in on vulnerable people,’ as part of the Witham MP’s war on crime. But when it comes to deporting those convicted of crimes, it seems that the Home Secretary’s record doesn’t exactly match up to her rhetoric, judging by new figures obtained by Mr S. For the number of serious offenders being deported from Britain has dropped by 65 per cent over the past five years – despite Patel’s promises of a ‘crackdown’ to overhaul the legal system. 

Home Office statistics obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show the number of deportation orders served has dropped by more than 3,000 – from 5,220 in 2015 to 1,810 in 2020, the last full year for which figures are available. The department could only offer figures for 2021 up until June but it looks as if last year will see a record low in the number of foreign national offenders (FNOs) being served such orders, with just 790 receiving them in the first six months of the year.

Deportation orders are issued in foreign national cases where the Home Secretary believes it to be ‘conducive to the public good’ to place a bar on a return to the UK for a period of time.