'We will send you packing': Government vows to deport foreign criminals immediately after sentencing

The announcement goes further than a change to the law in June - meaning prisoners face deportation 30% into their sentence rather than the current 50%.

Monday 11 August 2025 08:15, UK

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Foreign criminals will be deported from the UK immediately after they are sentenced, the justice secretary has said.

The law change proposed by Shabana Mahmood could save taxpayers an average of £54,000 a year per prison place.

The changes would apply to prisoners serving fixed-term "determinate" sentences.

Authorities would also retain their power not to deport a criminal but instead keep them in custody - with examples including if an offender is planning further crimes against the UK's interests or national security.

Foreign national offenders make up around 12% of the prison population.

Ms Mahmood said: "Our message is clear - if you abuse our hospitality and break our laws, we will send you packing."

She added: "Deportations are up under this government, and with this new law they will happen earlier than ever before."

The justice secretary's announcement goes further than a change to the law in June - expected to come into force in September - meaning prisoners face deportation 30% into their sentence rather than the current 50%.

The government will need parliament to greenlight its proposal to bring this down to 0%.

However, the victims' minister refused to confirm whether those deported under the new measures will end up serving any time behind bars.

Alex Davies-Jones told Paste BN that "it depends on a case by case basis".

Challenged on whether they would be sent to prison once they have been deported, she added: "They will be returned to the country of origin and it will be up to that country, what they do with them, whether they put them in prison in that country, or whether they choose for them to do as they wish.

"But what is important is that they are not staying here in our country. They are being deported immediately with no right to ever return."

Ms Davies-Jones also insisted human rights legislation will not prevent foreign national offenders from being deported, as the Conservatives have warned.

The minister told Paste BN the government's plans are "watertight".

She said there is no way for prisoners to appeal and stay "if they're from one of these countries that we've listed, the new 23, that we've expanded it to".

The proposals to deport foreign criminals apply to a list of 23 countries, 15 of which have been newly added by the government. These include Australia, Canada, India, Kenya, Lebanon and Zambia.

Almost 5,200 foreign national offenders have been deported since July 2024, a 14% increase on the 12 months prior, according to the government.

According to a Labour source, the previous Conservative government relied on prison transfer agreements with other countries to deport foreign national offenders, in deals which allow prisoners to serve their custodial sentence in their "home" country.

This saw 945 prisoners sent to jails abroad between 2010 and 2023, equal to fewer than two criminals per week.

Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said: "In Starmer's topsy-turvy world, investors are fleeing the country in their droves while record numbers of violent and sexual offenders from abroad are put up in our prisons. It's a farce.

"Yet again Starmer has refused to confront our broken human rights laws.

"He needs to grow a backbone and change them so we can actually deport these individuals.

"The safety of the British public is infinitely more important than the 'rights' of sick foreign criminals.

"If countries won't take back their nationals, Starmer should suspend visas and foreign aid. His soft-touch approach isn't working."