Britain's early prisoner release plan worries EU countries

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LONDON — Britain is preparing to release thousands of prisoners early to free up space in its overcrowded prisons. Its European neighbors are getting worried.

Five EU diplomats told POLITICO that their countries are particularly concerned about this change, with some saying they fear their nationals could be returned with little or no advance warning or communication.

“It’s very risky sending back criminals without any prior information,” said one EU diplomat, granted anonymity to discuss sensitive ongoing discussions.

The policy risks becoming another hurdle in Britain’s efforts to reset relations with the bloc, as the two sides prepare for a major summit to progress trade talks.

Britain is on course to release over 2,500 offenders by the end of the year under the scheme, with a further 700 due to be freed on Oct. 1.

But from January 2027, the government will also remove the requirement for foreign offenders to serve a minimum period in a British prison before being deported.

A U.K. government spokesperson said: “We will continue to engage with European partners on this issue. … The most serious offenders are excluded and, where there is evidence someone plans to commit future crimes, they will stay behind bars.”

Poor communication

Communication has so far, the diplomats say, been limited.

A second diplomat told POLITICO: “[The U.K. government] keeps saying that they cannot inform us. There should be some sort of collegiality among police forces, to let us know they’re letting [someone] out. We should be warned.”

The diplomat added embassies are also frustrated by the lack of coordination between departments on the issue.

“The FCDO always says talk to the Home Office,” the person said. “The Home Office says we should speak to FCDO — and the Cabinet Office says it has nothing to do with them.”

A third diplomat called it “a tricky situation,” saying European capitals are worried prisoners fresh out of “British jail can just pop to an airport in their home country, and are allowed to walk freely.”

A member of UK Border Force patrols at Heathrow Airport on July 16, 2019. | Daniel Leal/AFP via Getty Images

They said capitals would want more “information about the person being transferred,” but that the “Brits treat it as if there is nothing to confirm with us, and that it’s just a unilateral deportation.”

But prison reform campaigners point out that many of these offenders would face deportation at the end of their sentences anyway. The changes bring forward the point at which foreign prisoners become eligible for removal, as opposed to the outcome.

“It is up to the receiving country to decide if the prisoner should serve any prison time,” said Mark Day, deputy director at the Prison Reform Trust. “Some foreign nationals who are deported may not be required to serve any form of sentence. For others, the sentence served may be more punitive than the one they would have experienced in the U.K.”

Day said deportation also remains subject to legal and practical constraints, including where removal breaches the European Convention on Human Rights or the Refugee Convention.

Foreign nationals make up around 12 percent of the U.K. prison population, according to the latest Ministry of Justice figures. The biggest groups include nationals from several EU countries, such as Poland and Romania, as well as from the EU candidate country Albania.

Under the current post-Brexit trade deal, there are mechanisms where the U.K. notifies a European country when its national is convicted of a crime in Britain. The government is currently exploring whether additional measures could further support public safety.

Testing the reset

The issue is yet another test of the Labour government’s pledge to move on from Brexit and “reset” relations with its European allies.

The U.K. and EU are expected to hold a joint summit later this year, finalizing agreements to make trade smoother, travel easier, and climate cooperation tighter.

But the two sides are yet to agree on a date for the meeting amid concurrent disputes over EU trade protectionism and tuition fees.

The U.K. wants a carve-out from the EU’s “Made in Europe” policy and is pushing for British companies to get preferential treatment under EU industrial and procurement rules.

Meanwhile Brussels says the U.K. must cut tuition fees for European students studying in Britain if it wants a deal — which the British university sector says it can’t afford.

The latest row over prisoners is unlikely to make finding a solution easier.

“If somebody does something terrible after being flown to any of the member states … it can become a major diplomatic spat,” the second EU diplomat quoted above said. “There should be the U.K.-EU summit in November. You can imagine the juicy headlines.”

They added: “It’s really about basic trust. How would you excuse the British government for not telling us? We have the U.K. asking for trusted partner status [which would give British companies preferential access to EU procurement rules]. This is a ticking bomb.”