The UK must be able to kick out criminals
The Government's weakness in confronting the Pakistani state over its refusal to take back its criminal nationals has dealt a fresh blow to Sir Keir Starmer's floundering attempts to enforce the law.
The ringleaders of the Rochdale grooming scandal lost appeals against deportation in 2018, but remain in the country today, with Islamabad claiming that their decision to renounce their citizenship means that it has effectively washed its hands of the matter.
Or perhaps not. Interior ministry officials have suggested that if Pakistan's national airline PIA – suspended for safety reasons – were to be permitted to enter UK airspace again, then Pakistan might deign to take its criminals back. This should not be permitted to stand. These men cannot be allowed to escape the due punishment for their crimes, and Pakistan cannot be allowed to profit from charging an effective fee for their repatriation.
Some 76,000 Pakistani nationals emigrated to Britain last year; 31,000 on work visas, 30,000 on study visas, and 15,000 through other routes. Given the scale of the flows it is vital we can remove those whose presence ceases to be conducive to the public good. Without this ability, they should not be allowed to come.
If Pakistan intends to block deportations as a means to gain leverage in negotiations, then Britain should apply leverage to Pakistan. Unless Islamabad repatriates its offenders, then Sir Keir should start to limit the number of visas issued to Pakistani nationals, and suspend our £133 million in foreign aid payments into that country until its government changes course.
These measures might seem like overkill for removing two serious criminals from Britain's streets. The broader point, however, is that we need to re-establish the principle that illegal migrants, criminals, and other unwanted aliens can be removed from this nation.
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