§ 47. Mr. Peter Reesasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigrants during the past five years have been recommended for deportation by the appropriate court on conviction of a criminal offence; and how many of them have been in fact deported.
§ The Minister of State, Home Office (Mr. Richard Sharples)During the five years ended 31st December, 1969 the courts recommended the deportation of 3,015 aliens, Commonwealth and Irish citizens, of whom 1,747 were deported.
§ Mr. ReesWill my hon. Friend give an assurance that under this Administration more attention will be paid to the views of the judges, who are possibly in the best possible position to assess the merits of the cases before them, rather than the Administration itself?
§ Mr. SharplesI will say only that in many cases deportation orders were not carried out because of technical reasons and because they were wrongly framed.
§ Mr. SharplesThat is a matter for my hon. and learned Friend who put down the Question.