Jeremy Corbyn, Boris Johnson clash over UK's terrorist deportation row

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn had clashed in the House of Commons on February 12 while discussing the deportation of foreign offenders. Corbyn accused Johnson of misleading the country along with the nature of offences that foreigners commit and said that some deportees were also the victims of drug gangs. The Labour leader called the Conservative British government as “cruel and callous” for their deportation policy. 

“This cruel and callous government is trying to mislead the British people into thinking that it is solely deporting foreign nationals who are guilty of murder, rape and other serious offences," Corbyn said.

According to the official statement by the Downing Street, Robert Buckland had unveiled the urgent laws in order to ensure that terrorist offenders are not released before the end of their sentence without a thorough risk assessment by the Parole Board. 

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Moreover, these new rules will be applicable to offenders who are sentenced for crimes like training for terrorism. However, the Labour leader thinks it is “not the case”, the British PM defended the legislation for deporting at least 17 men to Jamaica earlier this week. Corbyn also mentioned the Windrush controversy in which several British citizens were wrongfully either detained or deported. 

The British PM not only said that the Labour had “no right to conflate” the actions of foreign offenders who were deported along with the mistreatment of the Windrush families who had come from Commonwealth to work in Britain after the war. 

Johnson said, "I think quite frankly the honourable gentleman demeans himself and besmirches the reputation of the Windrush generation who came to this country to work in our public services and teach our children, to make lives better for the people of this country." 

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Home Office listed crimes of deportees

According to the Home Office, the offenders who have been sent to Jamaica had combined jail sentences of nearly 75 years. Among the 17, reportedly two were convicted of rape and one other who was sentenced for 11 years and others for four years to six months. While Corbyn questioned if it was the right move to deport a black man who had arrived in the UK at the age of five, on February 11 the government released a list providing limited detail of the crimes of the people deported. However, according to the update by the British Parliament, the bill has been passed “undisputed” to the Committee stage.

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