Fury as 1 000 criminals set free
2006-04-26 08:30
London - British home secretary Charles Clarke on Wednesday faced calls to quit after admitting that more than 1 000 foreign criminals, including murderers and rapists, were set free in Britain instead of being deported.
Newspapers expressed outrage and disbelief at the fiasco, the latest to hit a member of Prime Minister Tony Blair's government in recent months.
The interior minister revealed on Tuesday that between February 1999 and March 2006, 1 023 convicted foreigners who should have been considered for deportation after leaving jail were released with no further action taken.
More than 900 of these people are still unaccounted for and Clarke said the whereabouts of most were unknown.
Three murderers, nine rapists, five child molesters and 20 drug smugglers are among the freed prisoners.
'Shocking failure'
"I think it was a shocking failure by the home office and by everybody involved including me," Clarke told the BBC late on Tuesday, reiterating an earlier apology for the mess.
The minister has so far shrugged off any suggestion of resignation, however, saying he will only go if he fails to rectify things.
"I have considered the question of resignation, I can assure you, and the consideration I have made is that it is my duty and certainly my responsibility to put these matters straight and that is what I intend to do," Clarke said.
'Criminal incompetence'
But Wednesday's British press turned up the heat with a barrage of screaming headlines, critical editorials and subtle political cartoons depicting the minister.
"What criminal incompetence," the right-wing Daily Mail splashed across its front page, while the Daily Mirror tabloid went with: "Criminal blunder".
The Sun, Britain's best-selling newspaper, took the strongest line against the home secretary, demanding his resignation in an editorial entitled: "Clarke must go".
It dismissed as insufficient an admission by the minister that the public was entitled to be concerned about the blunder, adding: "People are entitled to the home secretary's resignation - or instant dismissal for rank negligence."
Dangers of murderers, paedophiles on the streets
The Daily Mirror, for its part, highlighted the dangers of known murderers and paedophiles roaming unchecked about the streets of Britain.
"Mistakes happen in all governments, but this ranks among the most serious and was entirely avoidable," it said."
More foreign prisoners
Clarke said the error was made because the prison service was not focused on the nationality of its prisoners while the immigration authorities were concerned with other matters.
He also highlighted a jump in the number of foreign prisoners in England and Wales from 4 300 in 1996 to more than 10 000 at the end of February.
The immigration and nationality directorate has so far tracked down 107 of the former convicts, leading to 20 deportations, Clarke added.