Tories slam foreign prisoners data

Provisional figures compiled by the UK Border Agency showed 800 more were kicked out this year than last - meeting a Whitehall target.

Among them were 50 killers and attempted killers, 200 sex offenders and 1,500 drug offenders, in what was hailed a major success by immigration minister Phil Woolas.

But the Opposition said official statistics showed that for every three removed from the UK, two were freed - having served less than half their sentence and with a taxpayer-funded allowance - and six more were added to the prison population.

Shadow justice secretary Nick Herbert said the numbers being put behind bars had risen so fast that three jails were now dedicated to housing foreign criminals.

The Home Office said the figures - based on internal management figures released ahead of the independent Office of National Statistics' official verdict due in February - showed that new partnerships with the police, 85% of which were now in place, were working well.

Mr Woolas said: "Britain will not tolerate those that come here and break our rules, which is why we set the UK Border Agency the tough target of removing 5,000 foreign lawbreakers this year. By exceeding this target we're showing once again that there's no place in Britain for those that continue to abuse our trust. We now consider for deportation all non-EEA (European Economic Area) foreign nationals who go to prison for serious drug and gun offences no matter what the length of sentence."

But Mr Herbert said figures given to him by Justice Secretary Jack Straw in reply to a Commons written question showed that at least 2,196 foreign prisoners were released early on End of Custody Licence since June 2007, receiving up to £167 in cash payments each to compensate them for not receiving free board and lodging in prison.

The number of overseas criminals in jail in England and Wales had also risen by 1,000 since the resignation of Charles Clarke as home secretary over a foreign prisoner controversy, he pointed out.

Of the three prisons used to hold them, one could be filled entirely with those who had finished their sentence but were yet to be deported, he added.