Latest news with #DameAngelaEagle
Metro
4 days ago
- Metro
Hundreds of food delivery drivers arrested to stop asylum seekers working
To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Hundreds of people have been arrested as part of a government 'crackdown' on asylum seekers working in the gig economy and as delivery couriers. Between July 20 to 27, UK immigration enforcement officials stopped a total of 1,780 people for suspected illegal working. Asylum seekers in Britain are normally not allowed to work while their claim is being processed. They can apply for permission after a year of waiting. Around 280 were then arrested in areas including Hillingdon in northwest London, Dumfries in Scotland and Birmingham. More than fifty are now having their asylum support reviewed, which the government said could result in their support being suspended or withdrawn. Additionally, 89 have been detained pending removal from the country. The authorities also issued 51 businesses, including car washes and restaurants, with penalty notices that could hit them with hefty fines – if they are found to have hired people who did not have the right to work in the UK. The Home Office said it was targeting illegal working hotspots and the gig economy, in which work is assigned on a short-term basis. Immigration enforcement teams will receive £5 million from the £100 million funding pot already announced for border security. The money is aimed at increasing visits by officers in these areas over the coming months. Border security minister Dame Angela Eagle told Sky News: 'Illegal working undermines our border security and we're cracking down hard on it. 'That's why we have intensified our enforcement activity right across the UK to crack down on those who think they can evade immigration and employment laws in the UK.' Eddy Montgomery, enforcement director at the Home Office, told Sky New that officers were taking action 'around the clock' against 'those who think they can get away with working illegally'. Uber Eats, Deliveroo and Just Eat have said they will increase the use of fraud checks and facial verification to stop people working as riders without permission. Ministers hope to tackle the 'pull factors' attracting migrants to the UK by targeting areas of suspected activity. The crackdown comes as the government announced it would share information about asylum hotel locations with food delivery firms to disrupt such hotspots. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp described to Sky News a hotel housing asylum seekers as a 'black-market, courier hub in plain sight' – alleging he saw food delivery riders illegally working from there. He said the Conservatives wanted to remove asylum seekers' status and deport them if they were found to be working illegally. He added: 'Labour are now boasting about arrests, but we know they are too scared to actually deport anyone. 'People breaking the law are still being put up in hotels and handed benefits. 'It's a racket and Labour are letting it run.' More Trending Professor Nando Sigona and Dr Stefano Piemontese from the University of Birmingham argued that on the surface, the crackdown on illegal gig economy work appears to be about upholding labour standards. However, under the surface, the strategy is a mix of 'immigration enforcement, platform governance, and algorithmic control.' They said Ibrahim, a Sudanese migrant who arrived on a care worker visa in Birmingham, was left in limbo when suddenly unable to work at his sponsored work place. Prof Sigona and Dr Piemontese said: 'When the Home Office revoked his sponsor's licence, he was left with 60 days to find a new employer in the sector. Unable to do so, he began to deliver food using someone else's app account. Such 'substitution' practices are widespread and structurally embedded in the delivery sector's self-employment model. However, as Ibrahim has since applied for asylum, while legally resident in the UK, is barred from working while his case is decided. Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@ For more stories like this, check our news page. MORE: 'The system is at a breaking point' Inside London's housing crisis after minister resigns MORE: What I Own: We paid £125,000 for our London houseboat — we charge our lodger £1,200 a month MORE: Banksy London Map shows where to see street artist's best graffiti
Yahoo
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Minister denies migrant returns deal leaves open human rights loophole
A minister has rejected opposition suggestions that the Government's migrant returns deal leaves open a loophole for human rights laws to be exploited. Dame Angela Eagle denied the agreement with France would allow for spurious claims to be used to avoid deportation after shadow home secretary Chris Philp questioned the wording of the document. The 'one-in, one out' deal coming into effect on Wednesday will see migrants ineligible to stay in the UK sent back across the Channel, in exchange for taking those who have links to Britain. The agreement contains a clause that says in order for people to be returned to France, the UK must confirm they do not have an 'outstanding human rights claim'. Critics have argued this could risk bogus applications being made to frustrate the deportation process and cause delays. Mr Philp said on Tuesday this section offered 'an easy loophole for lawyers', adding that 'France will not give us any data on the people they are sending our way… so we have no idea who they really are'. Borders minister Dame Angela said he was wrong, and that the clause was included 'precisely to ensure no-one can use 'clearly unfounded' human rights claims to avoid being returned'. She added: 'And we will do full security checks on any applicants, and reject anyone who poses a risk.' Home Secretary Yvette Cooper conceded earlier that the accord is not a 'silver bullet' to stop small boat crossings, but marked a step change as migrants will be sent back across the Channel for the first time. Speaking to the BBC, she declined to put a number on how many people would be returned under the agreement ahead of time, saying that she believed it could aid criminal gangs. She added: 'We will provide regular updates, people will be able to see how many people are being detained, how many people are being returned, and it is right that we should be transparent around that.' Speaking to reporters earlier, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the deal would likely result in only small numbers of migrants being swapped with France and is 'not going to make any difference whatsoever'. Asked whether the Conservatives were partly to blame for the immigration and asylum situation, she told reporters: 'No I don't accept that at all, because what Labour are doing is just rubber-stamping all of the applications and saying they're processing.' It has been reported that about 50 a week could be sent to France. This would be a stark contrast to the more than 800 people every week who on average have arrived in the UK via small boats this year. Bruno Retailleau, France's interior minister, said the agreement 'establishes an experimental mechanism whose goal is clear: to smash the gangs'. The initial agreement will be in place until June 2026.
Telegraph
05-08-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Small boat migrants will be allowed to keep their phones, minister says
Migrants who arrive in Britain on small boats will be able to keep their mobile phones, a minister has said. Dame Angela Eagle, a Home Office minister, said the Government 'doesn't want absolutely every phone' from those who cross the Channel. Ministers unveiled a plan in January to crack down on people-smuggling by allowing Border Force and immigration enforcement to compel new arrivals to hand over their devices. The proposal in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill was aimed at helping investigators to identify and track down people-smugglers organising Channel crossings. It would reverse a High Court ruling last year, which said the Home Office had been unlawfully operating a blanket policy of seizing phones from people arriving on small boats. Officials were found to not have parliamentary authority to extract data from phones or retain the devices. Doing so had meant those affected were unable to contact family members or access documentation. Dame Angela said the Home Office would not be seeking the phones of every migrant who arrived on a small boat. She told Times Radio: 'The Bill, which is in the House of Lords at the moment, will enable us to target those that we think are facilitating. 'So we don't want absolutely every phone, but we do want the phones of the people that we think are organising and facilitating, and this extra money will enable us to do much quicker analytics of the phones that we seize. 'But of course, we've got to get the Border Security Bill on the statute book to give us those extra powers.' The Home Office has announced that an extra £100m will be spent on tackling people-smuggling, as protests outside asylum hotels continue across the country. Some of the money will support the 'one in, one out' returns agreement pilot with France, and some will go towards funding extended police powers to seize digital devices. Demonstrators outside hotels in London, Newcastle and Epping in Essex have called for the sites not to be used to house migrants. Asked on Sky News what her message was to protesters, Dame Angela said: 'Anger doesn't get you anywhere. 'What we have to do is recognise the values we have in this country, the rule of law we have in this country, the work we're doing with the police to protect people. 'We will close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament. We'll do it faster if we can.' Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said that 'the public's patience with the asylum hotels and with the whole issue of illegal migration has snapped'.
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Small boat migrants will be allowed to keep their phones, minister says
Migrants who arrive in Britain on small boats will be able to keep their mobile phones, a minister has Angela Eagle, a Home Office minister, said the Government 'doesn't want absolutely every phone' from those who cross the unveiled plans in January to crack down on people smuggling by allowing Border Force and immigration enforcement to compel new arrivals to hand over their proposals in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill were aimed at helping investigators to identify and track down people-smugglers behind Channel would reverse a High Court ruling last year, which said the Home Office had been unlawfully operating a blanket policy of seizing phones from people arriving on small were found to not have parliamentary authority to extract data from phones and retain the devices, which meant those affected were unable to contact family members or access documentation. Dame Angela said the Home Office would not be seeking the phones of every migrant who arrived on a small boat. She told Times Radio: 'The Bill, which is in the House of Lords at the moment, will enable us to target those that we think are facilitating. 'So we don't want absolutely every phone, but we do want the phones of the people that we think are organising and facilitating, and this extra money will enable us to do much quicker analytics of the phones that we seize. 'But of course, we've got to get the Border Security Bill on the statute book to give us those extra powers.' Asylum hotels to close 'by the end of the Parliament' The Home Office has announced that an extra £100m will be spent on tackling people smuggling, as protests outside asylum hotels continue across the country. Some of the money will support the 'one in, one out' returns agreement pilot with France, and some will go towards funding extended police powers to seize digital devices. Demonstrations have occurred outside hotel accommodation in London, Newcastle and Epping in Essex, calling for the sites not to be used to house migrants. Asked on Sky News what her message was to protesters, Dame Angela said: 'Anger doesn't get you anywhere. 'What we have to do is recognise the values we have in this country, the rule of law we have in this country, the work we're doing with the police to protect people. 'We will close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament. We'll do it faster if we can.'Robert Jenrick, the shadow justice secretary, said that 'the public's patience with the asylum hotels and with the whole issue of illegal migration has snapped'.Small boat crossings reached 25,000 for the year so far last week, a record milestone for this point in the year. Solve the daily Crossword
The Independent
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Controversial AI technology will assess disputed ages of UK Asylum seekers
New Artificial intelligence technology will be used to assess disputed ages of asylum seekers who say they are children, the Home Office has said. The facial age estimation system will be rolled out on an initial trial basis. Ministers hope to launch it for use on migrants arriving in the UK on small boats and lorries in 2026, subject to further testing of the technology to go ahead this year. The technology, trained on millions of images of people with confirmed ages, has been decided as the 'most cost-effective option' to assess ages in such cases where it is unknown or disputed, according to border security minister Dame Angela Eagle. The announcement on Tuesday comes as the borders watchdog report into Home Office age assessments said it is 'inevitable' that some decisions will be wrong without a 'foolproof test' of chronological age. The watchdog added this is 'clearly a cause for concern, especially where a child is denied the rights and protections to which they are entitled'. Currently initial age decisions are made by Home Office staff based on a migrant's physical appearance and demeanour. Announcing the move, Dame Angela said in a written statement: 'Accurately assessing the age of individuals is an incredibly complex and difficult task, and the Home Office has spent a number of years analysing which scientific and technological methods would best assist the current process, including looking at the role that artificial intelligence (AI) technology can play. 'Early assessments suggest that Facial Age Estimation could produce workable results much quicker than other potential methods of scientific or technological age assessment, such as bone X-rays or MRI scans, but at a fraction of the cost, and with no requirement for a physical medical procedure or accompanying medical supervision.' It comes as borders watchdog David Bolt's report also published on Tuesday looked at Home Office processes into age assessments, where those crossing the English Channel and first processed at Western Jet Foil, in Dover, Kent, make up a bulk of initial age decisions. Between January 2023 and January 2025, Mr Bolt said 20 out of 59 cases where a person was sent to Manston processing centre as an adult were then later sent back to Western Jet Foil and accepted as being a child. The independent chief inspector of borders and immigration said: 'The environment at Western Jet Foil, and the physical and mental condition of the migrants after a long, arduous, and perilous journey, make the already difficult task of assessing age even more challenging.' The report, which does not cover the Home Office's fresh announcement on using artificial intelligence, calls for officials to involve interpreters, social workers and experts in the process to gain more confidence in its decisions. Mr Bolt said many organisations who advocate for children believe the initial age decision process is 'crude and cruel'. He added: 'Over the years, and again during this inspection, I have listened to young people who felt disbelieved and dismissed by the Home Office, whose hopes have been crushed, and whose mental health has suffered. 'The Home Office has an uphill task in persuading these critics that it can be trusted in this area. Committing to better communication, engagement and collaboration would be a start.' During the visit, inspectors saw examples of a lack of cultural awareness, decisions that relied on generic physical characteristics, and questioning that focused on the migrant's credibility which should not form the basis of an age decision. Mr Bolt also cited concerns from local authorities and NGOs of examples of young people who felt pressured into signing a Home Office 'statement of age' document to say they were over 18 years old, or had not understood what they had been asked to sign. The chief inspector also called for both the Home Office and its critics to agree that some initial age decisions, that are opinion, are wrong, and that some migrants lie about their age. He added that this means not having a type of initial age assessment risks incentivising more to do so, which is not in the best interests of unaccompanied asylum seeking children. Responding to the report, the Home Office accepted all recommendations, including to carry out an evaluation of initial age decision training, and publish guidance on processes needed before someone signs the 'statement of age' form. The Refugee Council welcomed the Government 's response to the report, but also called for caution over the use of AI to determine ages. Chief executive of the charity Enver Solomon said: 'We welcome the decision to abandon intrusive scientific methods like X-rays and MRI, which we have long called for, but we are not convinced that replacing them with AI tools is the answer. 'These technologies continue to raise serious questions about accuracy, ethics and fairness. 'We call on the Government to implement reforms that prioritise professional assessments led by trained social workers, which is the most accurate way to determine age and ensure that every child is properly identified, supported, and given the chance to recover and thrive.'
