‘One rule for black boys and another for white boys’: Corbyn condemns Boris Johnson hypocrisy over Jamaica deportation flights

Jeremy Corbyn has attacked Boris Johnson in the House of Commons over deportations to Jamaica, suggesting that the government is applying different rules to black and white people.

The Labour leader accused the “cruel and callous” prime minister of trying to “mislead” the public by suggesting that foreign nationals who have lived in the UK since childhood were being removed for committing serious crimes like rape and manslaughter, when some had been convicted of much less serious offences.

Seventeen Jamaican-born men were flown on a charter flight to Kingston on Tuesday morning, while a further 25 had their removal halted by judges hours earlier because they had been denied access to legal help.

One of those the government intended to deport was Reshawn Davis, 30, who has been in the UK since the age of 11 and has a six-month-old daughter, and was issued removal directions on the basis that he was convicted for robbery 10 years ago under the now-unlawful “joint enterprise” rule – for which he spent two months in prison.

In comments coming very close to accusing the PM of racism, Mr Corbyn asked whether there was “one rule for young black boys from the Caribbean and another for white boys from the US”.

Speaking at prime minister’s questions in the Commons, Mr Corbyn demanded to know whether it was right for a man who came to the UK as a five-year-old, was compelled to carry drugs for a “county lines” gang and had not reoffended since leaving prison should be deported.

And he drew a contrast between the treatment meted out to young black men who were brought to the UK as children to US-born Mr Johnson’s own previous admission of drug use and the 1990 recording of the PM – then a journalist – discussing with his friend Darius Guppy a plan to have a reporter beaten up.

“The government has learnt absolutely nothing from the Windrush scandal,” said Mr Corbyn.

“This cruel and callous government is trying to mislead the British people into thinking it is solely deporting foreign nationals who are guilty of murder, rape and other very serious offences. This is clearly not the case.

“Take the example of a black boy who came to the UK aged five and is now being deported after serving time for a drugs offence.

“If there was a white boy with blond hair who later dabbled in class A drugs and conspired with a friend to beat up a journalist, would he deport that boy or is it one rule for young black boys from the Caribbean and another for white boys from the US?”

Mr Johnson insisted that the deportation of 17 men to Jamaica on Tuesday was justified.

All of those deported were Jamaican nationals who had been convicted of criminal offences and given prison sentences of 12 months or more.

The PM told the Commons: “I think the whole country would agree... that it is entirely right that foreign national offenders should be deported from this country in accordance with the law.”

And he accused Corbyn of “besmirching” the reputation of the Windrush generation by linking the current cases with the government’s widely-condemned removal of long-standing black British residents with no criminal record who found themselves unable to provide evidence of their right to remain.

(Reuters TV)

Mr Johnson said that the Labour leader “demeans himself and besmirches the reputation of the Windrush generation, who came to this country to work in our public services, to teach our children, to make communities better for the people of this country”.

The PM added: “He has no right to conflate them with these foreign national offenders who we are deporting today.”

Mr Corbyn retorted: “The Windrush generation has been disgracefully treated by a government that deliberately created a hostile environment.”

A senior spokesperson for the Labour leader later confirmed that Mr Corbyn was “quite clearly drawing attention to the prime minister’s record”, when referring to a “white boy with blond hair”.

The spokesperson said: “He was raising a point about the treatment of Caribbean-born people who have been living in Britain since childhood, and as Jeremy made clear a number of those who have been earmarked for deportation have not committed the kind of offences the government has highlighted – the most serious offences.

“He highlighted the case of a Caribbean-born person who has committed a drugs offence and fell under the deportation rule because they’ve been convicted of an offence for more than a year’s sentence.

“Jeremy was drawing a parallel, a contrast, with people who were born in other countries that might have, say, dabbled in class A drugs, might have for example discussed the beating up of journalists, but are subject to no such sanction.”

Responding to the Labour leader’s comments, Mr Johnson’s press secretary said: “What the public will see is the leader of the Labour Party defending serious and violent criminals. Until his leadership, this issue had cross-party agreement. It was the last Labour government who passed the law in 2007 meaning persistent foreign national offenders must be deported.

“Corbyn has constantly supported making life easier for criminals. He has opposed tougher sentences for the most dangerous offenders, he has opposed custodial sentences for those found carrying knives, he has opposed the use of stop and search to help the police do their jobs, whereas our attitude is that we will always do what is necessary to keep the public safe

“That is why we are investing in 20,000 police officers and that’s why we continue to believe that removing serious foreign national offenders is the right thing to do.”