A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Citizenship is a privilege not a right. The Home Secretary can deprive an individual of their citizenship where it is believed it is conducive to the public good to do so.’

The powers to remove offenders from the UK come under section 40 of the British Nationality Act 1981.

It allows for a person to be ‘deprived of their citizenship either where they acquired it using fraud, false representation(s) or concealment of a material fact, or where the Secretary of State is satisfied that doing so is ‘conducive to the public good’.’

An estimated 37 people have had their British citizenship taken away since 2000. Their nationalities include Russian, Somalia, Yemeni, Australian, Pakistani, Afghan, Albanian, Egyptian, Lebanese, Sudanese, Vietnamese, Iranian, Iraqi and Nigerian.