Home Office shares new clip of asylum seekers and criminals being kicked out
New data shows there have been nearly 30,000 returns of people since the general election as the Home Office releases new footage of people being kicked out
Home Office video shows people being deported from the UK
Nearly 30,000 failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals have been kicked out of the UK since the general election, new figures show.
The Home Office has released footage of 47 people arriving in Albania after authorities found they had no right to be in the country. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said removals had been ramped up, with a 23% rise in enforced returns after the Tories left the asylum system in chaos.
And the number of criminals from overseas has gone up by 14% since July 5 last year, when Labour came to power, the data reveals. Ms Cooper said: "The rules need to be respected and enforced.
"That is why we have substantially increased immigration enforcement - taking strong action to return more foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers who have no right to be in the UK. The work of Immigration Enforcement teams to substantially increase illegal working raids, returns and deportations is an important part of strengthening our border security."
Home Office figures show there were 29,867 returns between July 5 last year and May 18 this year. This included 7,893 enforced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK. There were 4,436 foreign national offenders (FNOs) kicked out and 8,511 asylum related returns.
Earlier this month the Government released a white paper outlinng Labour's plan to drive down net migration. It includes proposals to widen the range of offences that can result in deportation. Ms Cooper said: "As part of the Immigration White Paper reforms, we will strengthen the rules so that more foreign national offenders can be returned.'
The latest clip shows dozens of men, some covering their faces, arriving in Albanian capital Tirana. The UK has a returns agreement with the Balkan state, with the number of small boat arrivals from Albania dropping by 95% in three years.
In February the Government sparked a backlash after releasing footage of migrants in handcuffs being forced onto deportation flights. Critics branded it "performative", but minister Dame Angela Eagle said it was "important that we show what we are doing".
The Home Office said the four biggest removal charter flights in UK history have taken off under the current Government, with 850 people onboard. Foreign Secretary David Lammy said: 'Through close collaboration with partners like Albania, we are stepping up our efforts to return those with no right to be in the UK to their countries of origin."
He said international cooperation is "central" to the Government's approach to illegal migration. Earlier this week the landmark agreement with the EU committed the UK and Europe to working together on removals.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
32 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Government ‘putting its money where its mouth is' with £200m for Acorn scheme
Ministers confirmed they are meeting in full the request for development funding for the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire – the first time a government has provided funding of this scale for such a project to proceed. The scheme, which proposes storing emissions from across Scotland under the North Sea, had previously been overlooked for support despite repeated calls from the Scottish Government and others for it to be backed. With the UK Government also pledging to support the Viking carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the Humber, Mr Miliband insisted the two schemes will 'support industrial renewal' with 'thousands of highly skilled jobs'. According to the sector, Acorn could support about 15,000 jobs at its peak, with up to 20,000 jobs at the Viking project. As it develops, it is planned the Acorn site will link up with the former oil refinery at Grangemouth via more than 200 miles of pipelines. An existing 175 miles of gas pipes will be repurposed for this, with 35 miles of new pipeline also being built, allowing CO2 from the Grangemouth site to be transported to Acorn's storage facilities under the North Sea. The move is seen by many as being key in securing a future for the facility, where some 400 workers were recently made redundant. Ed Miliband visited the Acorn project site near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, on Thursday (Paul Campbell/PA) Speaking as he visited the site near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Mr Miliband said: 'This Government is putting its money where its mouth is and backing the trailblazing Acorn and Viking CCS projects. 'This will support industrial renewal in Scotland and the Humber with thousands of highly-skilled jobs at good wages to build Britain's clean energy future. 'Carbon capture will make working people in Britain's hard-working communities better off, breathing new life into their towns and cities and reindustrialising the country through our Plan for Change.' Mr Miliband visited the site the day after Rachel Reeves promised funding for Acorn in her spending review – although the Chancellor did not put a figure on how much support would be given in her statement to MPs. (PA Graphics) Tim Stedman, chief executive of Storegga, the lead developer of Acorn, said: 'We warmly welcome the UK Government's support for the Acorn project and the commitment to development funding that will enable the critical work needed to reach final investment decision.' He added the 'milestone' is 'key not only for Acorn but for establishing Scotland's essential CCS infrastructure needed to grow and scale the UK's wider carbon capture and storage industry'. Mr Stedman continued: 'We look forward to working with Government in the months ahead to understand the details of today's commitment, and to ensure the policy, regulatory and funding frameworks are in place to build and grow a world-leading UK CCS sector.' Graeme Davies, executive vice-president at Harbour Energy, which is leading the Viking project, said the commitment in the spending review 'sends a strong signal' that the project is 'an infrastructure-led economic growth priority' for the Parliament. He added: 'We will work with Government on the critical steps needed to progress Viking CCS towards a final investment decision.'
Powys County Times
an hour ago
- Powys County Times
Government ‘putting its money where its mouth is' with £200m for Acorn scheme
The UK Government is 'putting its money where its mouth is', Energy Secretary Ed Miliband said as it was revealed £200 million is being made available for a carbon capture project in Scotland. Ministers confirmed they are meeting in full the request for development funding for the Acorn project in Aberdeenshire – the first time a government has provided funding of this scale for such a project to proceed. The scheme, which proposes storing emissions from across Scotland under the North Sea, had previously been overlooked for support despite repeated calls from the Scottish Government and others for it to be backed. With the UK Government also pledging to support the Viking carbon capture and storage (CCS) project in the Humber, Mr Miliband insisted the two schemes will 'support industrial renewal' with 'thousands of highly skilled jobs'. According to the sector, Acorn could support about 15,000 jobs at its peak, with up to 20,000 jobs at the Viking project. As it develops, it is planned the Acorn site will link up with the former oil refinery at Grangemouth via more than 200 miles of pipelines. An existing 175 miles of gas pipes will be repurposed for this, with 35 miles of new pipeline also being built, allowing CO2 from the Grangemouth site to be transported to Acorn's storage facilities under the North Sea. The move is seen by many as being key in securing a future for the facility, where some 400 workers were recently made redundant. Speaking as he visited the site near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire, Mr Miliband said: 'This Government is putting its money where its mouth is and backing the trailblazing Acorn and Viking CCS projects. 'This will support industrial renewal in Scotland and the Humber with thousands of highly-skilled jobs at good wages to build Britain's clean energy future. 'Carbon capture will make working people in Britain's hard-working communities better off, breathing new life into their towns and cities and reindustrialising the country through our Plan for Change.' Mr Miliband visited the site the day after Rachel Reeves promised funding for Acorn in her spending review – although the Chancellor did not put a figure on how much support would be given in her statement to MPs. Tim Stedman, chief executive of Storegga, the lead developer of Acorn, said: 'We warmly welcome the UK Government's support for the Acorn project and the commitment to development funding that will enable the critical work needed to reach final investment decision.' He added the 'milestone' is 'key not only for Acorn but for establishing Scotland's essential CCS infrastructure needed to grow and scale the UK's wider carbon capture and storage industry'. Mr Stedman continued: 'We look forward to working with Government in the months ahead to understand the details of today's commitment, and to ensure the policy, regulatory and funding frameworks are in place to build and grow a world-leading UK CCS sector.' Graeme Davies, executive vice-president at Harbour Energy, which is leading the Viking project, said the commitment in the spending review 'sends a strong signal' that the project is 'an infrastructure-led economic growth priority' for the Parliament. He added: 'We will work with Government on the critical steps needed to progress Viking CCS towards a final investment decision.'
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Senior Labour figure comes third in selection contest
A senior Labour politician has come third in a selection for the new Senedd constituency of Afan Ogwr Rhondda, making it harder for him to return at the next Rees, who is the Welsh Parliament's deputy presiding officer, came last in a ballot of members to decide the order of the party's list in the Huw Irranca-Davies came first, while Rhondda's Buffy Williams was placed three of the six seats in any given area would require roughly around 36% of the vote - the most recent Wales-wide opinion poll put Labour at 18%. Rees told BBC Wales the group of three "strongly believe that it's possible to get three seats" in the constituency. Rees has been MS for Aberavon since 2011 and deputy presiding officer for the past four Labour have declined to comment on their party's selection procedures. The seat is one of 16 constituencies for the enlarged Welsh Parliament, spanning Port Talbot, the Rhondda and the Llynfi, Garw and Ogmore year's parliament will elect its politicians through a system of party lists. The better a party does, the more people on its list will become Members of the Senedd (MSs), with politicians elected in the order they are placed on that a party gets enough votes for three seats, then the three top placed individuals will be elected. If there's enough for two, then the two will become MSs. In total six MSs will be elected in each seat from across the parties drop in the polls since the general election has raised questions as to whether the party can win three seats in some of its Welsh heartlands, with both Plaid Cymru and Reform performing well in new system has also created a dilemma for all established Senedd political parties over whether to allow existing MSs privileged positions on party lists, and how exactly to do Labour, which had a large number of Senedd members elected under the old first past the post system, some politicians have been competing for prime spots on constituency Cymru fully opened its selection contests, leading to former leader Adam Price coming third in Sir Gaerfyrddin. Rees is a former school teacher, lecturer and assistant dean of faculty at the former Swansea Metropolitan University, and has chaired several committees in the Senedd."All three of us will be fighting very hard because we strongly believe it is possible to get three seats in that new constituency," Mr Rees told BBC Wales."We need to ensure that the message is given to people about how we are working on their behalf and what the Welsh government is delivering."Asked if the polling made that difficult, he said: "Yes, the polls today are not the same as what they were 12 months ago."We understand the changes people are seeing, the frustrations people have. But you still have 11 months to go - polls will change between now and then."Huw Irranca-Davies, who topped the list, is the current deputy first minister, leading the administration with Eluned Morgan as part of an uncontested "joint-ticket" last summer. The rural affairs secretary served as a UK government minister when he was an MP during the years that Gordon Brown was prime Williams won the Senedd seat of the Rhondda back from Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood in sources indicated there would have been an angry reaction had Williams, one of Welsh Labour's most high-profile women, missed out in the posted a picture of the three smiling together on the social media network Bluesky. She wrote: "Communities across Afon, Ogwr, Rhondda, were built on hard graft and labour values - stronger together and united against injustice, so I'm pleased to be standing as part of a team who's life's work truly reflect these values in the 2026 Senedd election."Irranca-Davies added: "Looking forward to campaigning with Buffy and David." In Clwyd, it is understood that the former minister Hannah Blythyn has come first in a ballot for the seat of Clwyd, with North Wales MS Carolyn Thomas being placed had a significant role in the crisis around the former first minister Vaughan Gething last year, after he sacked her over a leak of text messages from the pandemic. Blythyn denied having anything to do with it, and went on to attack the then-first minister reporting by Elliw Gwawr
