DAILY MAIL COMMENT: Albanian deals must ignite asylum reform 

The Mail welcomes news that 50 Albanian prisoners in British jails are being sent back to their homeland to serve out the remainder of their sentences.

It will rid this country of some extremely dangerous criminals and save the taxpayer the cost of their incarceration.

More importantly, the new bilateral agreement under which these deportations are happening shows a growing spirit of co-operation between London and Tirana.

Earlier this month, Rishi Sunak announced a joint deal to speed up the return of Albanian nationals making unfounded asylum claims here – part of a wider strategy to curb cross-Channel migration.

The Mail welcomes news that 50 Albanian prisoners in British jails are being sent back to their homeland to serve out the remainder of their sentences 

But let’s not be under any illusion about the mountain still to climb.

There are more than 1,300 Albanian criminals in British jails. So though sending 50 back is a start, it barely scratches the surface. If this problem is to be solved for good, deportation must become automatic immediately after conviction.

Equally, curbing the massive influx of Albanian asylum seekers requires radical action and sustained political will.

The numbers seeking refugee status in Britain have ballooned from 50 in 2020 to more than 13,000 this year, despite there being no significant change in the political situation in Albania.

Most are young men lured by the economic advantages Britain has to offer rather than genuinely trying to escape persecution.

The numbers seeking refugee status in Britain have ballooned from 50 in 2020 to more than 13,000 this year, despite there being no significant change in the political situation in Albania. A Border Force boat is seen above bringing migrants ashore in May

Yet with the help of willing lawyers they are able to manipulate human rights and modern slavery legislation to game the system and stay here.

Fewer than half of those who arrive illegally lose their asylum claims. This is simply absurd. Albania may be relatively poor but it is a democracy which aspires to Nato and EU membership.

To characterise it as unsafe is an insult to the country and its people. Indeed, 14 European countries refuse all asylum claims from Albanians.

It is in Albania’s national interest as much as the UK’s to end this cross-Channel farce, which ultimately benefits only racketeers and traffickers.

The new agreements are certainly a step in the right direction. But the powerful migration lobby will fight hard against any meaningful reform of the asylum system.

Though Mr Sunak has the public on his side, he should prepare for a long and arduous battle.

Roads left to crumble

With crippling fuel tax, congestion charges, low-emission zones, ill-conceived cycle lanes and widespread 20mph limits, drivers have every right to feel victimised.

Now even the roads themselves are being left to crumble as highway maintenance funding is slashed by 22 per cent.

Potholes and cracks in roads are a real-world concern. They damage private and commercial vehicles and affect economic activity by slowing or halting traffic.

Furthermore, drivers pay vehicle duty specifically to keep roads in good order. Allowing them to rot away is shameful.

The money saved by this cut – £400million – is paltry when set against the anger and inconvenience that will be caused. It is a false economy and should be reversed.

There is a delicious irony in the fact that a teaching union’s plans for a strike vote may be scuppered because the postal workers who were meant to be delivering the ballot papers are on strike themselves. How frustrating it must be to have to wait before inflicting yet more damage on our children’s education.

Given the spiralling cost of living, it’s no great shock that household debt is at record levels and nearly nine million adults are ‘financially fragile’. But shouldn’t a Conservative Government be trying to ease their burden, rather than piling on the agony with a raft of new taxes?