§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how frequently national security has been invoked in immigration cases as a reason for removing or deporting individuals in each year since 1973.
§ Mr. Hurd[pursuant to his reply, 22 January 1987, c. 667]: The information is not available in the precise form requested, nor for the whole period mentioned. In 1977 two individuals were deported on grounds of national security and between 1976 and 1983 there were no other deportations on those grounds. In 1984, 1985 and 1986 the figures for deportations on grounds of national security were six, 14 and 29 respectively.
Separate statistics of persons removed from the United Kingdom on grounds of national security are not available, but figures of persons refused leave to enter under rule 85 of the immigration rules on the Home Secretary's personal directions are as follows:
Number 1976 7 1977 20 1978 29 1979 12 1980 8 1981 7 1982 6 1983 4 1984 7 1985 6 11986 13 Total 119 1 January–October. Most, although not all, of the above refusals were on grounds of national security. The figures for the years 1976–84 may include a small number of cases in which removal from the country did not follow the initial refusal of entry.
364Wperiod since 1 January 1979 and is given for the 467 persons so detained on Merseyside in the following table. Information on exclusion orders is not recorded in the form requested. The information which can be provided without disproportionate cost relates to the period 1 January 1979 to 31 December 1986, during which period 23 exclusion orders were made against persons detained by the Merseyside police.