UK AND JAMAICA BUTT HEADS AT PRISON DEAL

Jamaica has accused David Cameron of inaccurately claiming to have signed a deal to repatriate about 300 of its citizens serving prison sentences in the UK, just weeks after he announced the supposed agreement on a trip to the Caribbean island.

The prime minister hailed the “important” step during a visit to Kingston in September, saying the UK would provide £25m from the foreign aid budget for a new prison in return for being able to send Jamaican inmates back to their homeland from 2020.

However, the Jamaican government disputes the existence of such an agreement, amid controversy over the idea of repatriation and concern that it will have to fund about 60% of the prison construction and all its running costs.

The Jamaican government has suffered a backlash after Cameron’s visit, including a protest about prisoner transfers outside parliament and a walkout by opposition politicians.

Speaking in the Jamaican parliament, Peter Bunting, the security minister, said: “Unfortunately, communications from the UK government, which has been carried in British and local media, may have left an impression in the public mind that Jamaica has signed a prisoner transfer agreement. This is not the case.

“The fact is, we have agreed to commence a process which may or may not result in a prisoner transfer. We have brought these inaccuracies to the attention of the British high commission locally and trust that it will be corrected.” He said the only document to have been signed is a non-binding memorandum of understanding to explore the possibility of prisoner transfer.

The plan would also need to be agreed by Jamaica’s parliament, which has previously declined to ratify a voluntary agreement announced by the former British prime minister Gordon Brown in 2007.

Bunting added: “There is no guarantee at this time that this administration will sign a prisoner transfer agreement with the UK. The government of Jamaica will only sign the prisoner transfer agreement after adequate public education and debate and the enactment of new legislation in the Jamaican parliament.”

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A statement from the UK government in September was clear that a concrete prisoner transfer agreement had been signed. It said: “More than 300 Jamaican prisoners serving time in British jails will be returned back to Jamaica to serve their sentence under an agreement signed by the UK and Jamaica today.”

However, Downing Street appears to have since watered down the strength of this commitment and implies there is more work to do. “We have signed a clear agreement with the Jamaican government that provides for us to work together to build a new prison in Kingston and then return criminals to Jamaica to serve their sentence. And we are now taking that forward,” a No 10 spokeswoman said on Tuesday.

The diplomatic dispute adds to the controversy surrounding Cameron’s visit to Jamaica, during which he was pressed to apologise for the UK’s role in slavery and atone for a distant relative who was compensated for the loss of slaves in the 1800s.

Portia Simpson-Miller, the prime minister of Jamaica, also urged him to engage on the issue of reparations for slavery but Cameron defied these calls and suggested the two countries should “move on” from that painful period of history.