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Britain will spend £25million on building a
prison... in Jamaica! Foreign aid payout to let us deport more criminals
By Jack Doyle Political Correspondent For The Daily
Mail
British taxpayers are to fork out £25million to build a more
comfortable jail in Jamaica to take convicts whose crimes were committed in the
UK.
The cash, from Britain’s aid budget, will help to build a
prison that meets human rights standards.
Jails on the Caribbean island are considered so bad that
hundreds of Jamaican prisoners are stuck behind bars in this country. The courts
have ruled that sending them back to jails in their homeland would amount to
torture or cruel and inhuman treatment.
David Cameron defended the project last night, saying it would
allow hundreds more inmates to be kicked out of Britain.
It was agreed as part of a new prisoner transfer deal which
officials insist will save millions of pounds. But critics said it was
‘ridiculous’ that Britain had to subsidise foreign prisons in order to deport
dangerous felons.
Jails on the Caribbean island are
considered so bad that hundreds of Jamaican prisoners are stuck behind bars in
this country
It comes as Britain’s own prison budget faces swingeing cuts
which senior Tories fear could see thousands more criminals either released from
jail early or given softer sentences.
Tory MP Peter Bone said: ‘Jamaica isn’t like Syria and there
isn’t any danger to them.
'We shouldn’t be spending money on a new prison for Jamaica,
they should be sent back and put in a normal prison in Jamaica.
‘This money could be spent on a lot of things that could
improve the welfare of Britons.’
Ukip MP Douglas Carswell said: ‘Being signatories to these
human rights rules make it impossible for us to throw criminals out of the
country.
‘If someone comes to this country from Jamaica and commits a
crime they should be sent back. We shouldn’t be running prisons in Jamaica. We
stopped running Jamaica decades ago.’
Tory MP Peter Bone, pictured, said:
‘Jamaica isn’t like Syria and there isn’t any danger to them'
Downing Street insisted the new agreement – which will allow
the transfer of prisoners who have received sentences of four years or more and
who have 18 months or more left to serve – will see more than 300 inmates
returning to Jamaica once the prison opens in 2020.
Britain will pay around 40 per cent of the cost of the
project.
Officials say it will save taxpayers around £10million a year
because of it costs £25,000 a year to keep an inmate in prison.
Nearly two-thirds of Jamaican prisoners in the UK are serving
sentences of four years or more for violence and drug offences.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON RULES OUT SLAVERY
CASH
David Cameron yesterday rejected calls for the UK to pay
reparations or apologise for the slave trade.
At the start of the Prime Minister’s tour of the Caribbean, his
officials said he was focused on the future instead of things that happened
‘when he wasn’t even born’.
Portia Simpson Miller, his Jamaican counterpart, has called for
talks on the question of reparations. Mike Henry, an MP on the island, said: ‘If
it is not on the agenda, I will not attend any functions involving the visiting
prime minister.
‘In the case of Mr Cameron, in particular, it is even more
sensitive as history has revealed that his ancestors actually owned slaves in
the Caribbean centuries ago.’
But a senior UK official said successive governments had felt
reparations were the wrong approach. He added: ‘The PM’s point would be he wants
to focus on the future.’
Tory MP Philip Hollobone welcomed the move. He said: ‘Using
overseas aid to build prisons in Jamaica enables us to send back prisoners who
would otherwise have to be housed at taxpayers’ expense in this
country.’
Mr Cameron said: ‘It is absolutely right that foreign criminals
who break our laws are properly punished but this shouldn’t be at the expense of
the hard-working British taxpayer.’
As he began a two-day visit to Jamaica and Grenada, the Prime
Minister announced hundreds of millions more in foreign aid.
It includes £300million on Caribbean roads, bridges and ports,
£30million for hospitals to help the islands cope with natural disasters and £30million to help Caribbean governments ‘improve the
management of their public finances so that they can improve public services’.
prison... in Jamaica! Foreign aid payout to let us deport more criminals
- The cash will help to build a prison that meets human rights
standards - Jails in Jamaica are so bad that hundreds of prisoners are put
in UK cells - David Cameron said it would allow more inmates to be kicked out
of Britain - Critics say it's ‘ridiculous’ that Britain had to subsidise
foreign prisons
By Jack Doyle Political Correspondent For The Daily
British taxpayers are to fork out £25million to build a more
comfortable jail in Jamaica to take convicts whose crimes were committed in the
UK.
The cash, from Britain’s aid budget, will help to build a
prison that meets human rights standards.
Jails on the Caribbean island are considered so bad that
hundreds of Jamaican prisoners are stuck behind bars in this country. The courts
have ruled that sending them back to jails in their homeland would amount to
torture or cruel and inhuman treatment.
David Cameron defended the project last night, saying it would
allow hundreds more inmates to be kicked out of Britain.
It was agreed as part of a new prisoner transfer deal which
officials insist will save millions of pounds. But critics said it was
‘ridiculous’ that Britain had to subsidise foreign prisons in order to deport
dangerous felons.
Jails on the Caribbean island are
considered so bad that hundreds of Jamaican prisoners are stuck behind bars in
this country
It comes as Britain’s own prison budget faces swingeing cuts
which senior Tories fear could see thousands more criminals either released from
jail early or given softer sentences.
Tory MP Peter Bone said: ‘Jamaica isn’t like Syria and there
isn’t any danger to them.
'We shouldn’t be spending money on a new prison for Jamaica,
they should be sent back and put in a normal prison in Jamaica.
‘This money could be spent on a lot of things that could
improve the welfare of Britons.’
Ukip MP Douglas Carswell said: ‘Being signatories to these
human rights rules make it impossible for us to throw criminals out of the
country.
‘If someone comes to this country from Jamaica and commits a
crime they should be sent back. We shouldn’t be running prisons in Jamaica. We
stopped running Jamaica decades ago.’
Tory MP Peter Bone, pictured, said:
‘Jamaica isn’t like Syria and there isn’t any danger to them'
Downing Street insisted the new agreement – which will allow
the transfer of prisoners who have received sentences of four years or more and
who have 18 months or more left to serve – will see more than 300 inmates
returning to Jamaica once the prison opens in 2020.
Britain will pay around 40 per cent of the cost of the
project.
Officials say it will save taxpayers around £10million a year
because of it costs £25,000 a year to keep an inmate in prison.
Nearly two-thirds of Jamaican prisoners in the UK are serving
sentences of four years or more for violence and drug offences.
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER DAVID CAMERON RULES OUT SLAVERY
CASH
David Cameron yesterday rejected calls for the UK to pay
reparations or apologise for the slave trade.
At the start of the Prime Minister’s tour of the Caribbean, his
officials said he was focused on the future instead of things that happened
‘when he wasn’t even born’.
Portia Simpson Miller, his Jamaican counterpart, has called for
talks on the question of reparations. Mike Henry, an MP on the island, said: ‘If
it is not on the agenda, I will not attend any functions involving the visiting
prime minister.
‘In the case of Mr Cameron, in particular, it is even more
sensitive as history has revealed that his ancestors actually owned slaves in
the Caribbean centuries ago.’
But a senior UK official said successive governments had felt
reparations were the wrong approach. He added: ‘The PM’s point would be he wants
to focus on the future.’
Tory MP Philip Hollobone welcomed the move. He said: ‘Using
overseas aid to build prisons in Jamaica enables us to send back prisoners who
would otherwise have to be housed at taxpayers’ expense in this
country.’
Mr Cameron said: ‘It is absolutely right that foreign criminals
who break our laws are properly punished but this shouldn’t be at the expense of
the hard-working British taxpayer.’
As he began a two-day visit to Jamaica and Grenada, the Prime
Minister announced hundreds of millions more in foreign aid.
It includes £300million on Caribbean roads, bridges and ports,
£30million for hospitals to help the islands cope with natural disasters and £30million to help Caribbean governments ‘improve the
management of their public finances so that they can improve public services’.
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