Dual nationals who have lived in the UK for fewer than 15 years and are jailed for five years would lose their passports under the proposals
The Tories claim the current powers are too narrow, with the Conservative administration only issuing 222 orders to rip up the passports of criminals between 2010 and 2024.
Mr Philp also said a Tory government would scrap the current threshold, which means foreign criminals are only automatically deported if they are sentenced to jail for a year or more.
The Conservatives would instead change the law so a foreign national would face deportation if convicted of any offence except for low-level violations such as parking tickets, littering, dog fouling or failing to have a TV licence.
The new Tory policy comes amid growing political and public concern over a series of high-profile sex attacks and killings by migrants.
The Tories said that deported foreign criminals would be permanently banned from returning to the UK, other than with the prior approval of the home secretary, if they won power.
Mr Philp said the party’s proposal to quit the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) would pave the way for the increase in deportations as offenders would no longer be able to use it to block their removal.
The number of serious foreign criminals living in the UK who should have been deported has increased by 20 per cent to a record 21,294 at the end of June, up from 17,677 in June 2024.
This is in addition to more than 10,000 foreign criminals held in jails in England and Wales. Many use human rights laws to fight or delay their removal.
Research by the Tories claimed not a single foreign offender had been sent back to Iran, Sudan, Eritrea, or Syria this year, despite 839 of their nationals sitting in prisons in England and Wales. Just 11 Jamaicans of the 357 in UK jails were deported, along with six Iraqis of 306 incarcerated and nine Somalis out of 235.
The Conservatives said countries refusing to take back their foreign offenders would face visa sanctions, cuts to overseas aid, and diplomatic pressure.
Mr Philp said he would back sanctions against Pakistan over its refusal to take back Shabir Ahmed, a ringleader of the Rochdale grooming gang, who was freed in July from a 22-year jail sentence for 30 child rape offences.
He endorsed Ms Mahmood’s proposed new powers that would enable the Home Secretary to deport criminals such as Ahmed, who were previously protected by a law blocking the deportation of anyone who came to the UK from a Commonwealth country before 1973.
Mr Philp said his proposed new powers would give the home secretary discretion to exempt individual offenders from deportation if they faced death or persecution or on compassionate grounds.
Disclaimer
This article is intended for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. For advice specific to your situation, please contact our team at T & M Legis for a consultation with our Legal Experts.
