UK will need £500m to build new jails for extra 4,000 EU convicts
Former cabinet member Iain Duncan Smith claims seven new prisons need to be built by 2030 to cope
BRITAIN will need to find £500million and build seven new prisons to cope with an explosion in EU prisoners, a former Cabinet Minister claimed tonight.
Iain Duncan Smith warned if net migration continued at current sky-high levels the numbers of EU criminals behind bars would double to almost 8,000 by 2030.
He said analysis showed this would cost taxpayers as much as £144million a year – but also requires £400million to be spent on building new jails.
The former Work and Pensions Secretary added that Britain’s jails were already fit to burst – with overcapacity at 11 per cent.
The blast by Vote Leave comes with Justice Secretary and prison reform champion Michael Gove on its board. It follows after a week in which the “Out” campaign has focused on the “security” threat posed by voting to Remain on June 23.
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Speaking today, Mr Duncan Smith said: “Our prisons already hold 4,000 criminals from the EU, costing taxpayers more than £150 million a year.
“The problem will only get worse if we stay in the EU, especially as Turkey, Macedonia, Albania, Serbia and Montenegro join.”
He added: “Our analysis shows UK taxpayers will have to pay an extra £400million just to keep EU criminals in jail.
“If we vote to leave, we can take back control of our borders and send EU criminals back to their own countries.”
Justice Minister and Brexit-backer Dominic Raab earlier this week warned Brussels’ law was putting families at risk by banning Britain from deporting EU nationals who have served their prison sentence.
On Wednesday, Mr Gove said Turkey’s accession to the EU would only increase the terror threat for Britain because of its border with Syria and Iraq.
Net migration hit a staggering 333,000 in 2015 with 184,000 from the EU. If it continues at that level until 2030, Britain’s population would rise by almost 5 million with 2.8 million from the EU.
The imprisonment rate is 0.1447 per cent, equal to 3,993 EU nationals.