HC Deb 12 July 1973 vol 859 cc1760-1
8. Mr. R. C. Mitchell

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many immigrants who entered this country illegally have been detained by the police; and how many have been deported since the recent House of Lords judgment.

Mr. R. Carr

The information available to me is that since 1st January 1973, 94 Commonwealth citizens have been detained as suspected illegal entrants, of whom 20 have been detained since the decision of the House of Lords on 11th June. Since that date, one illegal entrant has been removed from this country and this was at his own request.

Mr. Mitchell

Will the right hon. Gentleman give a breakdown of the 20 who have been detained since the House of Lords judgment into categories of those who were known to the police and had reported to the police before the House of Lords judgment?

Mr. Carr

I cannot do that at the moment because these and all the other cases are being considered, Of the total of 94, 72 had entered before 1st January this year. Of these 72, 14 will have been removed, 13 of them before the House of Lords decision and the one that I have mentioned at his own request since. The other cases are under consideration and the point raised by the hon. Member is one of the factors about which I am inquiring.

Mr. Deedes

In view of the amount of investigatory detail likely to be involved in my right hon. Friend's policy, which may either swamp him and his officials or tend to be skimped, will he give some thought to the possibility of an independent board with powers to make recommendations to him about these matters?

Mr. Carr

This is a matter in which ministerial examination and discretion are the most appropriate ways of proceeding. So far, we are not being swamped. If we were to be swamped I should have to consider the matter.

Mr. John Fraser

Has the Home Secretary studied the report in The Times this morning that those affected by the House of Lords decision are being subjected to blackmail and intimidation and are providing for certain right wing racialists a new sport of illegal immigrant manhunting? Will he keep a careful eye on this situation and the damage it can cause to race relations?

Mr. Carr

I saw that report and I was also glad to see the remarks of the acting chief constable who made clear that there was to be no witch-hunt—those were not his words, but that is what he meant. I am about to send a circular to chief constables advising them in the terms of the statements I have made to this House and stressing the "no witch-hunt" point and the need to avoid anything that could be construed as harassment and in particular the development of any practice of asking for passports in connection with minor crimes.

Mr. Biggs-Davison

Will my right hon. Friend put firmly on the record that the proper enforcement of the law is not and cannot be a witch-hunt, even if officials in the community relations industry think that it is?

Mr. Carr

Of course, proper enforcement of the law cannot be a witch-hunt. What can become a witch-hunt is the way in which people inform on their fellow citizens, and that is what we should all be concerned about. We have always taken a serious view about that in our society and I do not believe that any of us would wish to see that become any part of the enforcement of the law.