UK Government Offering Sex Abuser and Killer Migrants €2,300 to Leave the Country

Some on social media have responded to the first broadcast of a deportation flight by accusing the government of attempting to ‘gaslight’ voters into believing it takes border control seriously—not least after ITV News journalist Paul Brand introduced a report stressing that “the Home Office [does] actually want to demonstrate just how difficult it is to get people out of the country.”

But if this really was the reason for letting cameras on board, the government has shot itself in the foot thanks to other details that emerged as part of the coverage.

Brand reported that all of the 47 foreign national offenders—that is, migrants who arrived in the UK legally before forfeiting their right to stay by committing a serious crime—being removed to Romania on the flight his team was given filming access to were entitled to up to £2,000 (€2,292) to aid their resettlement in the country. That is, of course, taxpayer cash.

ITV estimated more broadly that this one deportation flight cost hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Labour Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood accepted that “out of context, it’s not great, it doesn’t look good.”

She was referring to the context that voluntary removals are supposed to be “cheaper for the British taxpayer”—not the fact that among those on board offered a nice sum of money were killers, thieves and sexual abusers. The criminal migrants are given these pre-loaded bank cards before their removal and are advised to withdraw the cash on landing.

This coverage came at the same time as analysis suggested it will take decades to deport all the foreign criminals in jail—and, presumably, many more millions of pounds—as just a fraction are removed every year.