 | Some of this is internal UK politix, in which I'm not fully versed, but part of this relates to the Global War on Terror. |
HOME Secretary Charles Clarke offered to resign before the scandal of released foreign prisoners broke last night, but had his request turned down by the Prime Minister. But today, Mr Clarke was under growing pressure to quit over a blunder which saw more than 1000 prisoners released instead of being deported after serving their time. At Westminster today calls for him to go were stepped up after it was revealed that almost 300 of the convicts were allowed back on the streets after he first knew of the problem last autumn. | It wasn't really an 'oversight' then, was it? |
The Home Office said it was still unsure whether any of those who should have been considered for deportation had been let out of Scottish jails and was unable to confirm which prisons across the UK they had been released from. Mr Clarke was today making a statement to the House of Commons about the fiasco which Downing Street said Mr Blair considered to be "deeply regrettable". The 1028 released prisoners - who included three murderers, nine rapists, and five child sex offenders - should have been considered for deportation under the Home Office's own rules. The problem stretches back to 1999 when 160 of them had been recommended for deportation by their trial judges. Mr Clarke said he expected that most of the released convicts could be tracked down and that many were still robbing and raping their neighbors under some form of supervision, but he admitted that he could not guarantee that all would be found. He said that his department did not know the full details of offences committed by more than 100 of them. Mr Clarke said this morning that the authorities had lost track of most of the prisoners due to a breakdown in communication between the Immigration and Nationality Director (IND) and the UK Prison Services. Asked if he told the Prime Minister he was ready to quit over the issue, Mr Clarke said: "Yes I did. I told him I was prepared to resign if he thought it was right. He said he didn't think it was right." He originally became aware of the problem last autumn after the House of Commons main efficiency watchdog the Public Accounts Committee asked for details about the problems. He made his offer to resign to Mr Blair before Christmas. Today Mr Clarke's aides said that while he was reporting matters to the House of Commons he was not intending to resign and Downing Street said Mr Blair still had "full confidence" in his Home Secretary. But Mr Davis said Mr Clarke was aware of the problem ten months ago and should have dealt with it "as a matter of urgency". But following the revelation that almost 300 more had been set free since then Mr Davis said: "I think that unless he has got a very good explanation - and I cannot think of one that will satisfy the House of Commons - I think his position has become untenable." Mr Mundell said that it was vital to find out if any of the prisoners had been freed in Scotland. And the Scottish National Party's Home Affairs Spokesman Stewart Hosie said: "We are witnessing a department in crisis and a Secretary of State who has failed in his primary responsibility to keep people safe." In Edinburgh the SNP's leader Nicola Sturgeon called for an immediate statement at Holyrood from the Justice Minister. And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell said it was "extraordinary" that so many people had simply disappeared. |