§ 26. Mr. Awberyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases have occurred during the past 12 months in which magistrates have recommended first offenders and men guilty of trivial offences for deportation.
§ Mr. BrookeOne hundred and seventeen aliens, 15 citizens of the Irish Republic and 37 Commonwealth citizens not known to have had a previous criminal record were recommended for deportation by magistrates' courts during the past 12 months, of whom 66 aliens, 2 citizens of the Irish Republic and I Commonwealth citizen have been or are being deported; some of the remaining cases are still under consideration.
§ Mr. AwberyMay I ask the Minister whether he has given any definite instructions to magistrates that the threat of deportation, or a sentence of deportation, should not be made against any man for any trivial offence, but only for a serious one? If not, will he give magistrates instructions to that effect?
§ Mr. BrookeAs the House knows, I have no power to give instructions to magistrates. What I was thinking of doing was taking a suitable opportunity in the near future to make known to magistrates and to the public generally the considerations which I bear in mind when deciding to act on a recommendation or not.
§ Mr. MellishThe Minister said that a number of Irishmen had been deported. How does one keep Irishmen in England? How does one stop them coming over here?
§ Mr. BrookeI do not think that they do come back. If they were deported, and if they came back, we should know how to deal with them.
§ Mr. MellishHow?