Member

Essentially, this Bill means that foreign criminals in Northern Ireland have hit the jackpot. If they are EU citizens, they are protected by the EU citizens’ rights directive and the withdrawal agreement that was signed in 2020. If they are not then never mind: they are in any case protected, as would not be the case in Great Britain, by enhanced protections under the European Charter of Fundamental Rights and Article 19 of the European Convention on Human Rights, as activist judges have, in the past, misused their powers and misinterpreted that particular piece of legislation. No matter how much tub-thumping we hear from excitable Labour Back-Benchers about the new powers of Clause 42, they are supporting a Bill part of which holds that we cannot deport criminals—rapists, murderers, burglars, et cetera—from part of our own country.