Robert Jenrick is upset about a new plan that could make it easier for people who came to the UK illegally and broke immigration laws to stay in the country. He says the Labour Party, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, is making the justice system unfair and weak when it comes to dealing with illegal immigration.
According to Jenrick, a new proposal by the Sentencing Council would mean that many people who are caught breaking immigration laws might not get a long enough prison sentence to be kicked out of the country.
Right now, if someone is sentenced to more than 12 months in prison, they can automatically be deported. But the new draft guidance from the Sentencing Council suggests lower prison sentences for immigration offences.
This means that even if someone is found guilty, their punishment might not be strong enough to trigger deportation. Jenrick says this would let hundreds of offenders stay in the UK every year when they should be removed.
He called the plan a joke and said Labour’s immigration policies are not serious. He believes only trade union bosses, criminals, and illegal migrants are benefiting under Labour. He also said that if Keir Starmer really wants to fix things, he should support Jenrick’s proposal to cancel the new sentencing rules and remove the people who created them.
The Sentencing Council first started talking about these new rules in July 2024, and more discussions happened in November and January. During these meetings, a representative from the Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, was present and agreed to the changes. That upset many people even more, as it looked like the Labour government was fully supporting the changes.
Because of the growing anger and pressure from both Labour and Conservative MPs, the plan was eventually scrapped. The biggest problem people had was that judges were going to be told to consider special factors for people from certain minority groups before deciding how to punish them. Many felt that this would create two sets of rules one for British people and one for others which they believed was unfair.
Shabana Mahmood later told Parliament that she would take a closer look at the Sentencing Council and review how it works and who gets to decide on these kinds of guidelines. She promised this review would happen soon. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Justice said that even if someone is given a prison sentence under 12 months, they can still be deported depending on the circumstances.
In short, Jenrick and many others think the current Labour government is not doing enough to protect the UK’s borders or punish immigration offenders properly. They believe these softer sentencing guidelines would make the situation worse and send the wrong message to people trying to enter the UK illegally.
