Sentencing Bill

Lord Lemos Excerpts

Report stage
Tuesday 6th January 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Keen of Elie (Con)]

My Lords, we are grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Verdirame, for the carefully framed amendment and to the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas of Cwmgiedd, for the very careful way in which he presented the amendment. We agree with all the points made by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, without qualification.

When the previous Secretary of State for Justice first intimated this policy last year, I referred to it in this Chamber as being “completely mad”. I have not deviated from that opinion, I have to confess. The idea that someone coming from a safe country in Europe will commit a series of robberies and then, when caught, will be returned to their country of origin at public expense in order to pick up a different set of identity papers or a different passport and then return yet again strikes me as quite absurd. That is the revolving door point that has been touched upon, but the other points are equally important.

Of course, they may not have come from a safe country, in which case we cannot deport them, but no accommodation has been made for that either. It is going to be optional, essentially. You may seek to argue that you have not come from a safe country and therefore you cannot be deported, so you prefer to stay in prison. It is a quite extraordinary proposal that somehow punishment lies in the fact that you have been returned to your country of origin after committing a serious offence in this country. We have a foreign national who rapes a child and flees back to his country of origin, and presumably we no longer make any efforts to extradite him because as far as this policy is concerned, he has been punished. He has gone home. What is that going to do for public confidence in the justice system? It will damage it, but I cannot see any upside. It is an impossible proposal.

David Gauke proposed, very sensibly, that there should be a minimum term of punishment, and that is necessary because it is not just punishment; it is also deterrence. Without that, we end up in the strange situation in which people commit a crime, leave for their home country at public expense and return as and when they wish to do so. We have had instances of that already. I will not go into the detailed cases at this stage in the evening, but it is not uncommon for those who have been arrested and convicted of offences to return to their country of origin and then return to these islands in due course. There have recent instances of that. We strongly support the idea that there has to be a minimum term of imprisonment in these cases, while understanding the pressure on our prisons. Does the Minister truly believe that public confidence in the justice system will be improved or even maintained as and when the full implications of this proposed policy become public?

[Lord in Waiting/Government Whip (Lord Lemos) (Lab)]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Verdirame, for meeting with my noble friend Lord Timpson to discuss the amendment proposed by him and the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas, relating to the early removal scheme and for the spirit in which this has been debated. Considering the lateness of the hour, I shall try to be brief. A number of the points I want to make, I will make very quickly, but there are one or two points that I do not think have been adequately addressed by the noble and learned Lord, Lord Thomas. I will perhaps just dwell on those.

To be clear, the Government’s priority is protecting victims in the UK and ensuring that foreign national offenders can never again offend here. Once deported, they will be barred from ever returning to the UK, protecting victims and the wider public. Limiting the early removal scheme to only those in receipt of a sentence of less than three years would effectively put the brakes on sustaining the removal of foreign national offenders.

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Moved by

[Lord Lemos]

91: Before Clause 40, insert the following new Clause—
“Imprisonment or detention for public protection: termination of licences(1) The Crime (Sentences) Act 1997 is amended as follows.(2) In section 31A (imprisonment or detention for public protection: termination of licences)—(a) after subsection (3) insert—“(3A) Where—(a) the prisoner has been released on licence under this Chapter (whether or not the prisoner has subsequently been recalled to prison under section 32),(b) the qualifying period has expired,(c) the prisoner’s licence has remained in force for a continuous period of one year beginning not before the qualifying period expired, and(d) the prisoner requests that the Secretary of State refer their case to the Parole Board,the Secretary of State must refer the prisoner’s case to the Board under this subsection.(3B) Only one request may be made under subsection (3A)(d) in any continuous period during which the prisoner’s licence remains in force.”;(b) in subsection (4), after “(3)” insert “or (3A)”; (c) in subsection (4D), for the words from “The reference under” to “that subsection” substitute “A reference under subsection (3) or (3A) must not be made, and a reference under either of those subsections”;(d) in subsection (4E)(a), after “(3)” insert “or (3A)”;(e) in subsection (5), in the definition of “the qualifying period”, for the words from “means—” to the end of the definition substitute “means the period of two years beginning with the date of the prisoner’s release.”;(f) in subsection (6)—(i) omit “paragraph (a) or (b) of”;(ii) after “the definition of “the qualifying period”” insert “in relation to—(a) a prisoner who was not at any time, in the period specified in the regulations beginning with the date of the prisoner’s release, serving any preventive sentence in respect of an offence for which the prisoner was convicted when aged 18 or over;(b) any other prisoner.”(3) In section 32 (recall of life prisoners while on licence), in subsection (5C), after “for the purposes of” insert “paragraph (c) of section 31A(3A) (referral to Parole Board) or”.(4) In section 32ZZA (imprisonment or detention for public protection: powers in relation to release of recalled prisoners), in subsection (4), after “for the purposes of” insert “paragraph (c) of section 31A(3A) (referral to Parole Board) or”.”Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment provides for a further referral to the Parole Board of the case of a prisoner serving a sentence of imprisonment or detention for public protection who has been released on licence and shortens the existing period that certain persons must spend on licence before a referral is made or a licence terminated.