After France riots, Lowe pledges to deport British-only offenders to third countries

Rupert Lowe has said a Restore Britain government would seek agreements with other countries to take serious offenders who hold only British citizenship, after a day of rioting in France.

In a long post on X at 08:01 BST on Sunday 18th October, the Restore Britain leader wrote: "A Restore Britain Government will develop bilateral agreements and mechanisms with third countries to accept second-generation migrant offenders convicted of domestic terrorism and other such serious crimes, who, for now, hold only British citizenship."

He added: "There will be no statelessness. It will be conducted fairly, and it will cost, but it will be done, and a message will be sent."

Mr Lowe also wrote: "Those convicted for arson, organised violence, and attacks on innocent people must face substantial prison sentences - foreign nationals involved must be removed. Citizenships stripped from dual nationals, obviously." He described the third-country plan as going further "in exceptional cases", and concluded: "Britain is just a few short years behind France."

The legal position

The proposal goes beyond removing citizenship from dual nationals. Mr Lowe did not say how offenders who are solely British would be sent abroad, or which countries might accept them. Under the British Nationality Act 1981, the Home Secretary "may not make an order" depriving a person of citizenship on public-good grounds "if he is satisfied that the order would make a person stateless", with a limited exception for some naturalised citizens.

What happened in France

On Saturday 17th October, marches against the cost of living turned violent in several French cities. The interior ministry put turnout at 550,000, while the CGT union said 800,000 took part, the Guardian reported. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu said 1,200 people had been arrested and 150 police officers and gendarmes injured.

Protesters broke into town halls or prefectures in Marseille, Lille, Angers and Bordeaux, AFP reported via France 24, and Limoges's 19th-century Hôtel de Ville was "largely lost" to fire.

President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X that those who had attacked prefectures and shops and looted town halls "will be prosecuted and punished", according to AFP. The Guardian reported that officials blamed the violence on the "ultra-left", while Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez blamed "opportunistic delinquents".

In his Sunday post, Mr Lowe claimed: "We watch as migrants ransack Paris whilst flying the flag of various African countries." Neither the Guardian nor AFP attributed the violence to migrants; the Guardian described "black-clad and masked rioters" in Paris.

On Saturday evening, Mr Lowe had posted at 21:04 BST: "Britain will burn like France unless we deport those who want us dead. We must act before they do."

Henry Bolton wrote at 21:38 BST on Saturday that France was "not close to losing control of the country as a whole", but added that if the situation did not calm, "France may be required to deploy the military".

Image: Steve Cadman, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons