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UK Borders Bill

I support this amendment because I am concerned that Clause 31(1)(b) simply says, "““who is convicted in the United Kingdom of an offence””." I suspect that that is going too wide. I am slightly surprised at the moderation of the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, in wanting to put in only two years; I think a case could be made out for putting in five years. I very recently came across a case of an asylum seeker who had made the mistake of taking a job in this country, no doubt completely out of ignorance. For that he was convicted and served a prison sentence—I am not sure how long—and was then detained presumably in preparation for deportation. The commission of technical offences should not be a kind of fast-track to deportation. I hope that the Government will have second thoughts about this.