More pertinent questions to ask would be how the Albanian prisoners had entered Britain. Had they been asylum seekers? Had they come on dinghies? Were they "illegal" immigrants*, in gutter tabloid terms? The larger numbers of dinghies and of Albanian passengers is a relatively recent phenomenon. It is hardly likely that many of them so far have come out of detention, committed crimes, got through the justice system and been consigned to the prison system - the delays in the criminal justice system alone atm make this extremely unlikely. Without such information, one is left with the impression that this is simply another attempt to conflate 2 disconnected issues and whip up unnecessary hysteria amongstthe usual target audience. Just to give the game away, Albanians are allowed to enter the UK by normal means, for business, tourism and other purposes, with a visa. 2 out of 3 applying are granted one. 20,000 come to the UK each year legally - several times more than arrive on dinghies. Tens of thousands of them reside in the UK. The majority are neither in prison nor awaiting trial.*since that term has no accepted legal definition.
Michael Winstanley ● 951d