Home Secretary Priti Patel will BAN foreign criminals from Britain if they have been jailed for more than a year as she unveils UK’s new points-based immigration system from January 1

• Patel is set to reveal details of how UK’s points-based system will operate   
• Criminals who have prison sentences longer than a year could be deported  
• Officials will also be able to bar persistent offenders such as pickpockets

Priti Patel will announce a ban on foreign criminals sentenced to more than a year in jail from entering Britain when she outlines new immigration rules on Monday.

The Home Secretary is set to unveil details of how the UK’s points-based immigration system – which will come into effect on January 1 after freedom of movement ends – will operate.

Ministers will be given powers to exclude or deport foreign criminals who have received prison sentences of more than a year, the Daily Telegraph reported.

Priti Patel (pictured on Sunday) will announce a ban on foreign criminals sentenced to more than a year in jail from entering Britain when she outlines new immigration rules 

The paper said officials will also be able to bar persistent offenders such as pickpockets and burglars, even if they have been sentenced to less than a year.

The change would mean criminals from the European Union are treated the same as currently happens to those from non-EU countries.

Under the present rules, convicted criminals from the bloc can only be excluded on a case-by-case basis.

The new immigration system is designed to cut the number of low-skilled migrants entering Britain from the beginning of next year, but aims to make it easier for higher-skilled workers to get UK visas.

People who want to live and work in the UK will need to gain 70 points to be eligible to apply for a visa.

Points will be awarded for key requirements like being able to speak English to a certain level, having a job offer from an approved employer, and meeting a minimum salary threshold.

A health and care visa will provide a route for key health professionals to work in the UK, while a graduate route will allow international students to stay in the UK for at least two years after completing their studies.

Ms Patel said: ‘The British people voted to take back control of our borders and introduce a new points-based immigration system’. Above, Patel with French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin on Sunday 

Ms Patel said on Sunday: ‘The British people voted to take back control of our borders and introduce a new points-based immigration system.

‘Now we have left the EU, we are free to unleash this country’s full potential and implement the changes we need to restore trust in the immigration system and deliver a new fairer, firmer, skills-led system from 1 January 2021.

‘Britain is open for business and ready to welcome the best and brightest global talent.’

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said Labour would ‘scrutinise the proposals on visas very carefully’.

‘The Government has rushed through immigration legislation with very little detail in the middle of a global pandemic.

‘There are real concerns that this will cause major problems for our NHS and our care sector, at a time when we are still waiting for the Government to make good on their promise to scrap the unfair immigration health surcharge for workers who were being charged to access the very services they were keeping going to help others during the toughest of times.’

Priti Patel last night told France to start towing boatloads of illegal migrants back to its shores – as numbers crossing the Channel to England surged to near-record levels.

Up to 200 migrants were intercepted by Border Force patrols off the British coast yesterday in what is feared to be a new daily record.

The crossings came as the Home Secretary met her new French counterpart Gerald Darmanin in Calais to push for fresh action to curb the ‘unacceptable’ daily crossings and tackle the ruthless people-smuggling gangs behind them.

The two ministers agreed to establish a small joint intelligence unit based in Coquelles, near Calais, where UK Border Force and National Crime Agency officers will work alongside their French counterparts. 

Priti Patel last night told France to start towing boatloads of illegal migrants back to its shores when the Home Secretary met her new French counterpart Gerald Darmanin in Calais

Up to 200 migrants were intercepted by Border Force patrols off the British coast in Dover yesterday in what is feared to be a new daily record 

Mr Darmanin said the new unit will consist of six British and six French police officers.

But Miss Patel also demanded fresh action from France to halt the crossings and take back those who make it to the UK illegally.

A Home Office source said: ‘She talked about the collective experience of officials in the room saying, ‘It is not beyond us in this room to create a plan for returns at sea.’ 

‘She was also clear that going forward we will be returning these people back to France.’

The Home Secretary said illegal crossings ‘simply cannot be allowed to go on,’ hours after up to 100 people tried to make their way from France to England in small inflatable boats

Ms Patel wore a protective face mask as she met the French Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, in Calais on Sunday

Miss Patel is said to have demanded that the French navy intercept migrants and tow their boats back to shore. 

She also requested permission for Border Force cutters to return illegal migrants picked up in the Channel directly to France rather than having to take them to the UK.

A Home Office source said Mr Darmanin, who has been in post for less than a week, had agreed to ‘do things differently’, but it was unclear what, if any, additional action he will take.

The source added: ‘Priti is incredibly unhappy with the number of small boats making this journey.’ 

Border Force officers were out assisting the coastguard and local lifeboat crews near Dover 

The most recent crossings follow reports that French authorities have dismantled a migrant camp near Calais, resulting in more than 500 people being moved on

On one day in June, 166 asylum seekers managed to reach Britain’s shores in eight boats 

Speaking after yesterday’s talks, the Home Secretary acknowledged that France was conducting ‘significant’ work to tackle the problem, but said numbers remained ‘unacceptably high’.

‘This simply cannot be allowed to go on,’ she said. 

‘I have signed an agreement with the French to create a joint intelligence cell which will crack down on the gangs behind this vile people smuggling operation and impressed on my French counterpart the need to stop these illegal crossings for the benefit of both our countries.’

Mr Darmanin said: ‘Together, we must strengthen our security cooperation, in particular in the fight against the illegal crossings of the English Channel by migrants risking their lives.’

Mr Darmanin says: ‘Together, we must strengthen our security cooperation, in particular in the fight against the illegal crossings of the English Channel by migrants risking their lives’

Sources say the Home Secretary is ‘incredibly unhappy’ with the number of illegal crossings

More than 2,400 people have made the illegal Channel crossing so far in 2020, with 702 refugees reaching the UK on small boats last month alone

Miss Patel is under intense pressure to get on top of a problem she had previously pledged to have all but eradicated by now.

While she was in Calais for talks yesterday, a dozen small boats were detected in the Channel carrying scores of migrants in the opposite direction.

The final tally was unconfirmed last night, but sources said it was likely to exceed the previous single-day record of 166, set on June 3.

This weekend’s crossings follow a spell of bad weather that deterred people smugglers from making the voyage

So far this year a total of at least 2,438 people have made the illegal Channel crossing, compared with 1,850 during the whole of 2019.

Sources said many had claimed asylum on arrival, complicating the process of removing them.

Twenty-seven people attempted the crossing in four boats on Saturday.

When yesterday’s number is confirmed it is likely to take the total above 2,600.

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