Labour has surrendered to Pakistan and abandoned Britain's victims

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Labour must use every lever at its disposal to force Pakistan to take back foreign national criminals and put British interests first, writes the former Home Secretary

Labour's failure to deport the vile criminals who formed the grooming gangs that terrorised, abused and stole the childhoods of young girls is sickeningly shameful.

Foreign national paedophiles and rapists should be booted out of Britain – no ifs or buts – and to do so, the Government must use every lever at its disposal, including diplomatic means to make it happen.

By being ineffective at applying the pressure needed on the Government of Pakistan to accept back their foreign nationals, the British people can see that Labour is not acting in our national interests by retraumatising and failing victims and survivors.

A succession of Labour leaders, from Starmer and now Burnham, are too weak to take the robust action needed to keep Britain safe.

For all the rhetoric we hear from this unelected, narcissistic, soundbite-obsessed Prime Minister, the serious work of diplomacy and governing is lacking.

Their failure to secure agreements with Pakistan is made all the more shocking when we see Labour Ministers have backed down to permit their national airline to fly flights back into the UK while dishing out tens of millions of pounds a year in foreign aid to them, with no return to the UK.

Britain should not be handing over concessions and money to Pakistan while they play hardball over the return of their foreign nationals.

Back in 2022 I negotiated and secured a returns agreement with the Pakistani Government to enable illegal migrants and criminals to be deported from Britain, so there is a framework in place by which action can be taken.

If Pakistan do not want to take back their foreign national criminals, then we can and should take firm action and show that there are consequences.

We can place sanctions, including visa sanctions, on those countries that refuse to cooperate with returning their foreign nationals back to them.

International development funding of aid programmes can also be stopped as a show of our resolve and determination, with clear conditions put in place that reflect our priorities and interests, including recipient countries taking back their foreign nationals.

Those actions alone would send a powerful signal from Britain and would give some comfort to the victims of the most abhorrent crimes perpetrated by Pakistani nationals. Despite those and other options being available, Labour has shown no sign of wanting to act in our national interests by putting pressure on Pakistan.

In fact, instead of standing up for Britain, Labour have capitulated to Pakistan just as they capitulated to Mauritius over the surrender of the Chagos Islands and to China over their Super Embassy Spy Hub. When Labour negotiates, Britain loses.

Labour's pattern of capitulation and failure to take action is part of a wider disturbing culture within the Labour Party where they put the interests of others over the safety and security of Britain.

This is the same Labour Party which campaigned to stop foreign criminals, including sex offenders and rapists, from being deported. It's the same Labour Party that tried to dodge the establishment of a national inquiry into grooming gangs and is the same Labour Party that opposes tough action being taken to secure our borders from illegal migration.

It's ingrained in Labour's DNA to back the causes that do Britain harm. Labour is not only weak on the world stage but lacking in the moral courage to put British interests first.

When it comes to standing up for British interests, protecting victims of crime and removing dangerous foreign criminals, Labour is incapable of rising to the moment and unwilling to act.