Labour Condemned For Sharing Brutal Deportation Clips

Labour has been condemned over a new government TikTok account showing footage of immigrants being deported from the UK.

The “Secure Borders UK” account went live on Tuesday as new Home Office figures revealed nearly 50,000 people have been removed from the country since Labour came to power in July, 2024.

The first video showed border officials arresting men and women before putting them on aeroplanes, ending with the ominous message: “And it’s just getting started.”

A second similar video was posted later boasting: “Returns flights are removing illegal migrants from the UK at near record levels.”

Writing for HuffPost UK, former Green Party leader Carla Denyer said the account was “simply unforgivable”.

She said: “It will encourage the division and hatred already tearing our communities apart – turning people who were born here against those who simply want to make this country their home.”

Campaigners also joined in the criticism, accusing the government of pandering to right-wing voters and warning that the controversial tactics will backfire.

Sile Reynolds, head of asylum advocacy at Freedom From Torture, said: “This government is clearly hooked on the cheap political points it can score by turning the brutality of enforcement raids into clickbait online entertainment.

“This style of political communication provokes the kind of anxiety and fear that fuelled the summer riots and the recent violence directed at asylum hotels.”

Imran Hussain, director of external affairs at the Refugee Council, said: “Only a small proportion of refugees in Europe come to the UK.

“Those that do come here do so because they have existing links with the UK – like having family here, speaking English, or longstanding cultural links.

Zoe Gardner, an independent migration policy researcher, posted on X: “In polling, people report being MORE LIKELY TO VOTE REFORM directly after being shown exactly this kind of video.

“Labour’s plan? Let’s make new accounts to pump out these videos!!!”

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “There is no place for illegal working in our communities.

“That is why we have surged enforcement activity to the highest level in British history so illegal migrants in the black economy have nowhere to hide.”

But shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the new TikTok account was “yet another pathetic gimmick that won’t work”.

“The idea that putting some posts on TikTok will stop illegal immigrants is laughable – just like the government’s previous gimmick to smash the gangs,” he said.