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UK Borders Bill

Only if the sentence is activated; in other words, if a person is sent to prison by the court. The two conditions together meet their objectives. First, they will help to protect the British public, and secondly they will send out that important message. The provisions meet our underpinning duty to be proportionate and fair. They are aimed at, and will capture, serious offenders. While I respect the noble Lord’s intention in tabling his amendment, the amendment would create an unwelcome gap in the implementation of the Government’s policy and for that reason it is unacceptable. Examples of the sorts of offences that would not be subject to automatic deportation if we were to accept the noble Lord’s suggestion of two years’ imprisonment as a threshold are the very serious offences under the Fraud Act 2006 such as fraud, deception, forgery and counterfeiting. In cases involving such offences, a person is sentenced to at least 12 months’ imprisonment but less than two years. Those sorts of offences would fall through the net, which would begin to undermine the effectiveness of the cover that we are trying to provide.