
Ministers have no idea how many migrants overstay their visas and work illegally, say worried MPs
Home Office staff fail to check exit data under the skilled worker visa scheme, they claim.
A damning report by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee found ministers have not even checked exit data since the skilled worker visa scheme was launched in 2020.
More than 1.18 million people have come to Britain on the visas, including thousands to fill care home jobs.
But MPs claim officials do not know "what proportion of people return to their home country after their visa has expired, and how many may be working illegally in the United Kingdom.'
The PAC also revealed 'widespread evidence of workers suffering debt bondage, working excessive hours and exploitative conditions', with little action taken to fix it.
Committee chairman Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP blasted: 'There has long been mounting evidence of serious issues with the system, laid bare once again in our inquiry.
'And yet basic information, such as how many people on skilled worker visas have been modern slavery victims, and whether people leave the UK after their visas expire, seems to still not have been gathered by Government.'
It comes an investigation by The Sun uncovered the shameless criminality of asylum seekers earning cash from takeaway drop-offs while living on taxpayer handouts.
Secret Uber Eats kitchen cooking 'Big Boi Burgers' brazenly set up in tax-funded asylum hotel is SHUT DOWN
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The Guardian
11 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ex-teacher found guilty of historical abuse of boys at Edinburgh Academy
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The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Jury given majority direction in trial of US woman accused of murder plot
Jurors trying a US citizen accused of involvement in a murder plot in the UK in 2019 have been given a majority direction by the trial judge. The jury in the trial of Aimee Betro, who denies conspiracy to murder, possessing a self-loading pistol and a charge of fraudulently evading the prohibition on importing ammunition, first retired to consider its verdicts on Wednesday last week. Prosecutors allege Betro, who is originally from West Allis in Wisconsin but was living in Armenia until earlier this year, flew to Britain in August 2019 to take part in a plot orchestrated by co-conspirators Mohammed Aslam, 56, and his son Mohammed Nabil Nazir, 31, to attack another family as part of a 'violent' feud. The Crown also claims the 45-year-old graduate hid her face using a niqab when she got out of a Mercedes and tried to shoot Sikander Ali at point-blank range outside his home in Measham Grove, Yardley, Birmingham. The attempted shooting took place shortly after 8pm on September 7 2019, jurors have heard, but the handgun jammed, allowing Mr Ali to flee in his car. Giving evidence during her trial, Betro suggested that the perpetrator was 'another American woman' who sounded similar to her, used the same phone and wore the same sort of trainers. Betro also told jurors that it was 'all just a terrible coincidence' that she was around the corner from the scene of the attempted assassination six minutes later. Jurors have so far been in retirement for more than 15 hours over four days. After the jury confirmed on Monday that it had yet to reach unanimous verdicts on any of the counts faced by Betro, Judge Simon Drew KC gave the panel a majority direction. Before inviting jurors to resume their discussions, the judge told them: 'I ask you to continue to deliberate and to continue to try to reach verdicts on which you are all agreed.' The judge said he could now accept verdicts or either guilty or not guilty on which at least 10 of the 12 jurors agreed. The judge added: 'But it cannot be less than that (10).' The court has heard Aslam and Nazir, who were jailed last year for their part in the assassination plot, were involved in a feud with Mr Ali's father, Aslat Mahumad. Nazir and Aslam, both of Elms Avenue in Derby, had been injured during disorder at Mr Mahumad's clothing boutique in Birmingham in July 2018, jurors have been told, leading them to conspire to have someone kill him or a member of his family.


The Independent
11 minutes ago
- The Independent
Labour councillor ‘called for far-right protesters' throats to be slit'
A Labour councillor called for far-right protesters' throats to be slit during a 'rabble-rousing' speech at an anti-racism protest, a court has heard. In the wake of rioting following the Southport murders, Ricky Jones, 58, described demonstrators as 'disgusting Nazi fascists', his trial was told. The now-suspended councillor had been told by the Labour Party to stay away from the protest, but turned up anyway, jurors heard. A video showing Jones addressing the crowd in Walthamstow, east London, on August 7 last year went viral on social media after the protest. Wearing a black polo top and surrounded by cheering supporters, the councillor said: 'They are disgusting Nazi fascists. We need to cut all their throats and get rid of them all.' He also drew his finger across his throat as he spoke to the 'tinderbox' crowd. The demonstration had been organised in response to plans for a far-right march outside Waltham Forest Immigration Bureau, jurors at Snaresbrook Crown Court were told. It followed the nationwide violent disorder that occurred last summer after the Southport murders. Prosecutor Ben Holt said Jones used 'inflammatory, rabble-rousing language in the throng of a crowd that we will hear described as a tinderbox'. Opening the case on Monday, Mr Holt said: 'Last summer, three young girls were killed at a dance-themed party in Southport. 'There was some hysteria… Some of that grief manifested itself in anger, and regrettably, violence.' The incidents brought out counter-protests, one of which Jones decided to go to, the prosecutor said. 'He attended in the face of considered advice not to do so,' Mr Holt added. 'At Walthamstow that day, rumours had spread that there was going to be a protest outside an immigration centre. 'During that event, he made a speech, amplified through a public address system, to the crowd. 'He called the other side disgusting Nazi fascists. He said that their throats needed to be slit. 'He drew his finger along his throat as he said that. 'This, in a setting where, we suggest, violence could readily have been anticipated. 'We ask rhetorically, what did Mr Jones think was going to happen?' In the days before the protest, the councillor had been warned to stay away by his party. A letter sent to him said: 'With heightened tensions in many areas of the country due to the threat of further violent disorder, we wanted to remind all Labour party councillors to follow the clear advice issued by the police which is not to take part in, attend or encourage others to attend, any sort of demonstration or counter demonstration.' Jones, of Dartford, who denies one count of encouraging violent disorder, told police he was 'sorry' he made the comments 'in the heat of the moment', and had not intended for them to be 'taken literally', Mr Holt said. The councillor also told police he was upset having been sent pictures of National Front stickers that had been left on a train, which had razor blades hidden behind them. Jones, who has been a borough councillor in Dartford, Kent, since 2019, was suspended by the Labour Party the day after the alleged incident. The trial continues.