Government under increasing fire over overseas offenders failure (Birmingham Liberal Democrats)

Birmingham Liberal Democrats <info@birminghamlibdems.org.uk>

Government under increasing fire over overseas offenders failure

January 16, 2007 11:23 AM

The government has come under repeated fire after it emerged that 27,500 files of Britons who have offended abroad, including 540 for serious crimes, had not been entered on the police national computer. A senior civil servant has been suspended pending an investigation. About 70 of the Britons who were left off police records may have reoffended in the UK, the BBC has learned. The Observer yesterday publicised the case of Dale Miller, convicted of violent offences abroad, not entered onto the police computer, who committed murder back in the UK. During questions in the Commons today, Nick Clegg challenged the government on this issue.

Nick Clegg said "The public will not likely forgive a government which has talked tough for a decade and yet has failed in fulfilling the most basic duty to protect their safety. With re-offending rates in this country amongst the highest in the Western world, it is more than probable that the case of Dale Miller will not be an isolated one. Although we still do not know what information the official revealed to lead to their suspension, what is clear is that disciplining voiceless civil servants is no substitute for political accountability. The Home Secretary is not in a position to act as both judge and jury on the Government's lamentable record in the Home Office. John Reid needs a lot more than a closed enquiry run by his own civil servants to assure the public that he is capable of getting to the bottom of this mess."