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Left-leaning Labour politicians have accused the Home Office of “enabling the mainstreaming of racism” after footage showing people being removed from the UK was released for the first time.
The government announced on Monday that nearly 19,000 refused asylum seekers, foreign criminals and other immigration offenders had been returned to their home countries since the general election.
The Home Office declined to say which countries they had been returned to, other than “across Africa, Asia, Europe and South America”.
Clive Lewis, the Labour MP for Norwich South, said ministers were “enabling the mainstreaming of racism” by showing people being deported. Detention Action, an NGO, said it was “an act of performative cruelty” by the government.
It comes amid a growing political threat from Reform UK, as MPs on Monday prepared to debate the new border security bill.
The footage shows men being taken off a bus and up the stairway of a charter jet to be deported from the UK. Their faces blurred, the men are surrounded by Border Force staff.
Accompanying the release of the footage, a press release said the Home Office had “for the first time” shared images of the inner working of the removals process.
Lewis said: “Just using harsh and cruel language, or bringing in longer sentences, or filming people being put on to planes, will not solve the problem. Seeking asylum is not a criminal act and filming people who have been refused permission to stay in the UK is cruel.”
Lewis added that consecutive Labour and Conservative governments were in effect “mainstreaming racism” by pandering to the demands of Reform.
He said: “The tactical mistake that they are making is that they will never be harsh or cruel enough for those who are utilising this for political gain. We will never go far enough for the Reform party.
“The problem is that we will give people in these groups permission to go further and further using more racist rhetoric. It is enabling the mainstreaming of racism.”
Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti said: “I’m glad these images are anonymised because there’s a fine line between public confidence and humiliation. Whether you are blue, green or sky-blue-pink Labour, you’ll never beat the far right at their own toxic game.”
James Wilson, the director of Detention Action, called the footage “an act of performative cruelty” by the government.
He said: “Each day, we speak to people facing such flights who have children, families and established lives here in the UK. We are seriously concerned about the risk of children and families watching the removal of their loved ones on TV. Filming people in this way is an appalling violation of their privacy.”
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In an article for the Guardian, Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council, wrote: “Melodramatic footage and maligning narratives that risk punching down on the men, women and children in the boats who are victims of traffickers and smugglers will not give the public confidence that the [asylum] system is working.”
The government believes its record on migration could help retain Labour voters tempted by Nigel Farage’s party. On Sunday, it released footage of immigration raids for illegal workers, prompting Diane Abbott to say: “Trying to present ourselves as Reform-lite is a big mistake.”
Between 5 July 2024 and 31 January 2025, a total of 18,987 returns were recorded – an increase of 24%, the Home Office said. Removals of foreign national offenders were up by 21% and illegal working raids up by 38% compared with the same period 12 months previously.
There were 5,074 enforced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK over this period. This compares with 4,089 enforced returns over the same period 12 months previously – an increase of 24%.
Of the total returns since 5 July 2024, 2,925 were of foreign national offenders – an increase of 21%, officials said.
Ministers insist that success in ramping up the number of removals is vital for restoring order to the asylum system, alongside breaking the business model of smuggling gangs through tougher law enforcement powers.
Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, said: “To rebuild public confidence in the immigration system, we need to show the rules are respected and enforced. That’s why, as part of the government’s plan for change, we have put significant additional resource into immigration enforcement and returns, so those who have no right to be here, particularly those who have committed crimes in our country, are removed as swiftly as possible.”
The border security, asylum and immigration bill returned for debate in the House of Commons in its second reading on Monday.
It aims to introduce a series of new offences and powers to crack down on the people-smugglers bringing people across the Channel.
“This bill is about restoring order to the immigration and asylum system and rebuilding our border security,” Cooper told the house, rather than “standing on the shoreline just shouting at the sea”.
