Ministers are being urged to deport more foreign offenders to ease prison overcrowding crisis (Image: Getty)
Countries should lose out on foreign aid and visa deals if they refuse to take back criminals held in English and Welsh prisons, Robert Jenrick has declared.
The Shadow Justice Secretary said deporting 10,500 foreign national offenders is the “number one thing we can do to free-up prison capacity”.
DON'T MISS
Powered by
Labour in ‘chaos' over Syria as Tories blast ‘complete confusion' by ministers
165 Comments
Deport foreign criminals to ease prison overcrowding crisis, Starmer told
71 Comments
Angela Rayner accused of 'tearing up' the countryside with new prison plan
12 Comments
Angela Rayner declares war on NIMBYs as councils ordered to build 1.5 million homes
219 Comments
Labour set to launch immediate tax raid in one part of UK as homeowners face ￡2,000 bill
24 Comments
ISIS fanatics in Syria should be stripped of British citizenship, Keir Starmer told
7 Comments
Syrian migrants to be deported by major EU country - but Labour refuses to do the same
51 Comments
Starmer accused of 'not caring about law and order' as new prison figures emerge
37 Comments
King Charles 'doesn't want to get involved' with Prince Harry for key reason
21 Comments
Rachel Reeves delivers fresh blow to hospices and care homes after epic misjudgement
113 Comments
Shocking true cost of Labour's cancellation of the Rwanda migrant scheme revealed
157 Comments
Frontline officers savage 'Labour mirage' and issue warning despite Starmer's promises
39 Comments
Labour's 'dangerously misguided foreign policy' threatens special relationship with US
63 Comments
POLL: Should MPs vote to legalise assisted dying on Friday?
74 Comments
Labour slammed for prioritising union pay rises over public safety as criminals rejoice
255 Comments
Moment Kay Burley leaves Labour minister completely stumped in clash over prison plan
88 Comments
Labour launches war on councils but minister admits new prisons plan is already doomed
4 Comments
Labour plans to build four new prisons - but told it's not enough to tackle crisis
21 Comments
POLL: Do you trust Labour will respond to terror threat after fall of Assad in Syria? Vote
171 Comments
Keir Starmer 'could have ended the channel migrant crisis by now' with one simple move
24 Comments
Labour in ‘chaos' over Syria as Tories blast ‘complete confusion' by ministers
165 Comments
Deport foreign criminals to ease prison overcrowding crisis, Starmer told
71 Comments
Angela Rayner accused of 'tearing up' the countryside with new prison plan
12 Comments
Angela Rayner declares war on NIMBYs as councils ordered to build 1.5 million homes
219 Comments
Labour set to launch immediate tax raid in one part of UK as homeowners face ￡2,000 bill
24 Comments
ISIS fanatics in Syria should be stripped of British citizenship, Keir Starmer told
7 Comments
Syrian migrants to be deported by major EU country - but Labour refuses to do the same
51 Comments
Starmer accused of 'not caring about law and order' as new prison figures emerge
37 Comments
King Charles 'doesn't want to get involved' with Prince Harry for key reason
21 Comments
Rachel Reeves delivers fresh blow to hospices and care homes after epic misjudgement
113 Comments
Shocking true cost of Labour's cancellation of the Rwanda migrant scheme revealed
157 Comments
Frontline officers savage 'Labour mirage' and issue warning despite Starmer's promises
39 Comments
Labour's 'dangerously misguided foreign policy' threatens special relationship with US
63 Comments
POLL: Should MPs vote to legalise assisted dying on Friday?
74 Comments
Labour slammed for prioritising union pay rises over public safety as criminals rejoice
255 Comments
Moment Kay Burley leaves Labour minister completely stumped in clash over prison plan
88 Comments
Labour launches war on councils but minister admits new prisons plan is already doomed
4 Comments
Labour plans to build four new prisons - but told it's not enough to tackle crisis
21 Comments
POLL: Do you trust Labour will respond to terror threat after fall of Assad in Syria? Vote
171 Comments
Keir Starmer 'could have ended the channel migrant crisis by now' with one simple move
24 Comments
Labour in ‘chaos' over Syria as Tories blast ‘complete confusion' by ministers
165 Comments
Deport foreign criminals to ease prison overcrowding crisis, Starmer told
71 Comments
Angela Rayner accused of 'tearing up' the countryside with new prison plan
12 Comments
Angela Rayner declares war on NIMBYs as councils ordered to build 1.5 million homes
219 Comments
Labour set to launch immediate tax raid in one part of UK as homeowners face ￡2,000 bill
24 Comments
ISIS fanatics in Syria should be stripped of British citizenship, Keir Starmer told
7 Comments
Syrian migrants to be deported by major EU country - but Labour refuses to do the same
51 Comments
If countries refuse, they should be denied foreign aid and their citizens' visa rights, Mr Jenrick said.
Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick said: “That is the number one thing we can do to free-up prison capacity.
"And how do you do that? Use every lever of the British state to put pressure on those other countries to take back their own criminals,” Mr Jenrick told Sky News.
Shabana Mahmood is under pressure to protect the public despite overcrowding crisis. (Image: Getty)
He added: “Do things like stopping issuing visas, don’t give foreign aid to those countries. If they won’t take back their criminals, we shouldn’t be supporting them.
“Those are the sorts of things I would be doing as Justice Secretary, but I would suggest that Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood, for ideological reasons, are happy to release these people in a way that I certainly never would be.”
Around 12% – 10,500 – of those in prison are foreign nationals. Around 4,330 FNOs were deported in the year to June 2024.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood has promised to find a total of 14,000 cell spaces in jails by 2031.
Some 6,400 of these will be at newly built prisons, with ￡2.3 billion towards the cost over the next two years.
Ms Mahmood also suggested councils could be overruled to push through the construction plans in a bid to grip the overcrowding crisis, and hinted jury trials could be scrapped in some instances to cut the backlog of court cases.
The remaining places will be found by measures including building new wings at existing jails, or by refurbishing cells currently out of action, and an extra ￡500 million will go towards "vital building maintenance", the department said on Wednesday.
But the Justice Secretary admitted the justice system could still run out of prison places.
She told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "We will run out because even all of that new supply, with the increase in prison population that we will see as a result of that new supply, doesn't help you with the rise in demand, because demand is still rising faster than any supply could catch up with."
Stressing that "building alone" will not be enough to deal with the overcrowding crisis, Ms Mahmood also confirmed "we will have to expand the range of punishment outside of prison", adding: "That does mean that we will have more offenders monitored outside."
Prisons will be deemed sites of "national importance" amid efforts to prevent lengthy planning delays, with Ms Mahmood saying decisions on new prison building will be made by Deputy Prime Minster Angela Rayner, who is the Housing Secretary.
Asked whether the Government would "fast-track applications and overrule the objections of local people and local councils", Ms Mahmood told BBC Breakfast: "Yes, so our manifesto commitment was that we consider prisons to be of national importance.
"These are critical infrastructure projects, they are absolutely necessary to make sure the country doesn't run out of prison places."
Asked about concerns people may have about a prison being built near their homes, she said: "We have to be honest about the fact that prison building is required."
Elsewhere, the Justice Secretary hinted at the prospect of jury trials being abandoned in some cases to tackle backlogs in the system.
She told LBC an announcement would be made "imminently" in the Commons and to the media on the issue.
"We do have a crown court backlog that is very high and likely to rise because the sheer number of cases that are coming into the system is so big, that even if we were sitting at maximum capacity across the whole of the crown court, we still wouldn't be able to touch the sides of that backlog," she said.
"That does say that we need to think about doing things differently and the announcements that we will be making will set out the Government's proposals in this space."
Ms Mahmood added: "I do believe that justice delayed is justice denied. So, we are going to have to think about a different way of managing our crown courts so that we can crack down on that backlog properly."
Her comments come a day after Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle described suggestions about resorting to scrapping some jury trials as "one quite extreme way of looking at it", telling Sky News "Dispensing with jury trials is one difficult end of some of the decisions that might have to be made."
Trending
SUBSCRIBE Invalid email
We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. Read our Privacy Policy
The Government's 10-year prisons plan is aimed at making sure "we can always lock up dangerous criminals", the MoJ said.
The announcement comes after government estimates published last week indicated more than 100,000 prisoners could be held in jails in England and Wales by 2029.
This followed warnings from Whitehall's spending watchdog that government plans to boost prison capacity could fall short by thousands of cell spaces within two years and cost taxpayers billions of pounds more than anticipated.
Since September, thousands of inmates have been freed early in a bid to cut jail overcrowding by temporarily reducing the proportion of sentences which some prisoners must serve behind bars in England and Wales from 50% to 40%.
However, prisons are still expected to reach critical capacity again by July.
MoJ figures show there were 86,089 adult prisoners behind bars in England and Wales on Monday.
DON'T MISS
Powered by
Labour in ‘chaos' over Syria as Tories blast ‘complete confusion' by ministers
165 Comments
Deport foreign criminals to ease prison overcrowding crisis, Starmer told
71 Comments
Angela Rayner accused of 'tearing up' the countryside with new prison plan
12 Comments
Angela Rayner declares war on NIMBYs as councils ordered to build 1.5 million homes
219 Comments
Labour set to launch immediate tax raid in one part of UK as homeowners face ￡2,000 bill
24 Comments
ISIS fanatics in Syria should be stripped of British citizenship, Keir Starmer told
7 Comments
Syrian migrants to be deported by major EU country - but Labour refuses to do the same
51 Comments
Starmer accused of 'not caring about law and order' as new prison figures emerge
37 Comments
King Charles 'doesn't want to get involved' with Prince Harry for key reason
21 Comments
Rachel Reeves delivers fresh blow to hospices and care homes after epic misjudgement
113 Comments
Shocking true cost of Labour's cancellation of the Rwanda migrant scheme revealed
157 Comments
Frontline officers savage 'Labour mirage' and issue warning despite Starmer's promises
39 Comments
Labour's 'dangerously misguided foreign policy' threatens special relationship with US
63 Comments
POLL: Should MPs vote to legalise assisted dying on Friday?
74 Comments
Labour slammed for prioritising union pay rises over public safety as criminals rejoice
255 Comments
Moment Kay Burley leaves Labour minister completely stumped in clash over prison plan
88 Comments
Labour launches war on councils but minister admits new prisons plan is already doomed
4 Comments
Labour plans to build four new prisons - but told it's not enough to tackle crisis
21 Comments
POLL: Do you trust Labour will respond to terror threat after fall of Assad in Syria? Vote
170 Comments
Keir Starmer 'could have ended the channel migrant crisis by now' with one simple move
24 Comments
Labour in ‘chaos' over Syria as Tories blast ‘complete confusion' by ministers
165 Comments
Deport foreign criminals to ease prison overcrowding crisis, Starmer told
71 Comments
Angela Rayner accused of 'tearing up' the countryside with new prison plan
12 Comments
Angela Rayner declares war on NIMBYs as councils ordered to build 1.5 million homes
219 Comments
Labour set to launch immediate tax raid in one part of UK as homeowners face ￡2,000 bill
24 Comments
ISIS fanatics in Syria should be stripped of British citizenship, Keir Starmer told
7 Comments
Syrian migrants to be deported by major EU country - but Labour refuses to do the same
51 Comments
Starmer accused of 'not caring about law and order' as new prison figures emerge
37 Comments
King Charles 'doesn't want to get involved' with Prince Harry for key reason
21 Comments
Rachel Reeves delivers fresh blow to hospices and care homes after epic misjudgement
113 Comments
Shocking true cost of Labour's cancellation of the Rwanda migrant scheme revealed
157 Comments
Frontline officers savage 'Labour mirage' and issue warning despite Starmer's promises
39 Comments
Labour's 'dangerously misguided foreign policy' threatens special relationship with US
63 Comments
POLL: Should MPs vote to legalise assisted dying on Friday?
74 Comments
Labour slammed for prioritising union pay rises over public safety as criminals rejoice
255 Comments
Moment Kay Burley leaves Labour minister completely stumped in clash over prison plan
88 Comments
Labour launches war on councils but minister admits new prisons plan is already doomed
4 Comments
Labour plans to build four new prisons - but told it's not enough to tackle crisis
21 Comments
POLL: Do you trust Labour will respond to terror threat after fall of Assad in Syria? Vote
170 Comments
Keir Starmer 'could have ended the channel migrant crisis by now' with one simple move
24 Comments
Labour in ‘chaos' over Syria as Tories blast ‘complete confusion' by ministers
165 Comments
Deport foreign criminals to ease prison overcrowding crisis, Starmer told
71 Comments
Angela Rayner accused of 'tearing up' the countryside with new prison plan
12 Comments
Angela Rayner declares war on NIMBYs as councils ordered to build 1.5 million homes
219 Comments
Labour set to launch immediate tax raid in one part of UK as homeowners face ￡2,000 bill
24 Comments
ISIS fanatics in Syria should be stripped of British citizenship, Keir Starmer told
7 Comments
Syrian migrants to be deported by major EU country - but Labour refuses to do the same
51 Comments
The so-called operational capacity for English and Welsh men's and women's prisons is 88,822, indicating there is now cell space for 2,733 criminals.
Asked if she could guarantee there would be no more emergency releases over the next five years, Ms Mahmood told Sky News: "I'm not going to do any more emergency releases of the kind either that I've had to do at the beginning or as the last Conservative government did with their early release scheme as well.
"I want to avoid that scenario. We will not be doing that. There are other operational measures that we might have to take to try and stabilise the prison system... so more people potentially on home detention curfew."