Migrants could be deported if convicted of any crime under Labour crackdown as Keir Starmer responds to threat of Reform UK

Labour is working on new plans that would make it much easier to remove foreign nationals from the UK if they commit any kind of crime, even small ones. Right now, under the current rules, someone from another country is only reported to the Home Office if they are given a jail sentence, and deportation is usually considered only if they are sentenced to a year or more in prison.

That means a lot of people who break the law, especially those who commit serious but non-jailable offences, can still stay in the country without facing any risk of being removed.

But Labour wants to change that completely. If their plan goes ahead, anyone from abroad who is found guilty of breaking the law—even if it’s a minor offence will be reported to the Home Office. Then, government officials will have more power to take action, including cancelling visas and deporting the person, especially if they have not lived in the UK long or don’t have strong personal connections here yet.

The push for this strict new policy comes as Labour tries to calm public worries about immigration. A lot of people in the country are concerned that too many migrants are coming in and that the system is not working properly. Labour also feels the pressure from Reform UK, the party led by Nigel Farage, which has been gaining more support recently. In fact, a recent opinion poll showed Reform UK was ahead of Labour by ten points, which has alarmed Labour leaders. So now they want to show voters that they are serious about taking action on immigration and law and order.

Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, has taken a strong position on this. She wants to make sure that even migrants who commit crimes like knife possession, shoplifting, property damage, or abuse against women can no longer get away with it just because they weren’t jailed. Under her plan, those offences would be enough to put someone at risk of being deported.

Another part of the plan deals with foreign nationals who are placed on the Sex Offenders Register. No matter what the sentence is—whether it’s a warning, a fine, or jail—those individuals would automatically be considered as having committed a serious crime and would not be allowed to apply for asylum or protection in the UK. They would be banned from staying in the country.

The White Paper, which is a detailed document laying out all the immigration changes Labour wants to make, is expected to be published soon. It will also include rules to stop foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers from using human rights laws to avoid being deported. In the past, many people facing deportation have claimed that returning to their home country would be dangerous or that they have the right to family life in the UK. Labour wants to tighten the system so those kinds of legal arguments can’t be used as easily to delay or block removal.

A source from the Home Office said that new rules are also being looked at to allow the government to cancel someone’s visa if they commit a crime soon after arriving in the UK, before they have made strong roots like having a job, home, or family here. This would make it much quicker to send them back to their home country.

But not everyone believes these promises. Nigel Farage quickly dismissed Labour’s plan, saying that it’s the same kind of promise we’ve heard many times before and that governments rarely follow through with it. He said it sounds good on paper, but they never actually deliver the results. The Conservative Party also mocked the plan. Their Shadow Home Secretary, Chris Philp, called the White Paper a “white flag,” saying Labour doesn’t have the courage, control, or a clear strategy to handle the problem.

So far, since July 2024, the Home Office says it has removed about 3,594 foreign criminals from the UK. That’s a 16% increase compared to the year before. But immigration numbers are still very high. More than 11,500 people have crossed the Channel in small boats this year, and that’s over 2,000 more than in the same period last year. Experts say if nothing changes, net migration could stay above 340,000 people a year and possibly climb to 525,000 by 2028.

Labour’s tough new measures are meant to fix this growing problem and win back trust from the public. But for now, many people remain unsure whether these promises will actually turn into real action.