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Government says more people working illegally are being arrested and deported

Morning and welcome to our UK politics blog.

The government said more arrests are being made for illegal working, with Home Office figures showing more than 17,000 people have been arrested since the July 2024 general election – more than double the number recorded in the previous two-year period.

Of those arrested, 2,357 people have been deported, according to the Home Office, a 50% increase compared with the number returned between July 2022 and June 2024.

Commenting on those numbers on the media round this morning, the border security and asylum minister Anna Turley said it was “the highest levels in British history”.

“We’re sending a message that if you think you can come to this country and work illegally and disappear off the books, then our immigration enforcement service will find you [and] will arrest you,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Meanwhile, the Conservative party has pledged to end social housing eligibility for all foreign nationals, saying it would free up almost 230,000 for British families. Under the proposals, tenants in England who do not qualify would be expected to move out of their homes within six months.

The plans have been described as “divisive” by Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of housing charity Shelter, who said the policy would “brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades”.

You can read more on that story here:

Also today:

Chaos has descended on the Norfolk town of Thetford for a third night in a row as violent anti-immigration protests saw crowds of people attempt to storm a home believed to be housing asylum seekers.
Norfolk police said two men in their 40s were arrested last night while some of the asylum seekers had to be escorted from homes as a result of the unrest. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Norfolk chief constable Paul Sanford said officers were “subjected to significant aggression”, with one hit with a rock, one bitten and another spat at.
The government is also under pressure to review the potential early release of two of the men who killed PC Andrew Harper. Det Supt Stuart Blaik, who led the investigation in 2019, told the BBC he was “deeply concerned and appalled” by the prospect and that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers could be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences.

Key events

Conservative councillors have been told they “must not allow” Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green-led councils to disregard new guidance on single-sex spaces.

Conservative chairman Kevin Hollinrake said he would ensure all Tory-run authorities comply with the guidance, which states that single-sex toilets and changing rooms should be used according to a person’s sex at birth.

He made the comments in a letter to Tory councillors after reports that some councils could choose not to follow the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s guidance.

In the letter, posted on X, he wrote: “Several national newspapers report that Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green councils are working together to undermine it.

“Conservatives and Conservative-run councils must not allow this to happen.”

Shadow work and pensions secretary Helen Whately has been on the media round this morning for the Conservatives to talk about her party’s pledge to ban foreign nationals from social housing.

Here is a roundup of what she said:

When asked on BBC Breakfast whether people who have fled war in Ukraine would be made to leave their social housing home by a Tory government, Whately responded: “We’re not attempting to change people’s migration status, if people have come here and sought refuge … Britain is a welcoming country for that and we’re not about to change it.” When asked to clarify whether Ukrainian refugees would be “thrown out” under her party’s policy, Whately took issue with the language, saying: “We’re making sure people have six months to find another place to live.”
Appearing on Sky News, Whately was asked what would happen to people after the six-month grace period. She said: “You should do what most people in the UK do, which is find their own accommodation, for instance, private rented accommodation.”
Times Radio raised the issue of insufficient social housing being built. In response, Whately said it would take “years and years” to provide homes for everyone on the waiting list, and argued that her party’s policy was a faster approach to freeing up homes.

Tory plan to ban foreign nationals from social housing condemned as ‘divisive’

Caroline Davies

Plans to ban foreign nationals from social housing under a Conservative government have been condemned as “divisive”.

Under proposals revealed on Friday, the party said about 230,000 homes would become available if foreign nationals were prevented from accessing social housing.

Ending new tenancies for all foreign nationals, as well as current tenancies for couples where neither person is a UK, Irish or EU citizen, would free up an estimated 228,144 homes for British families, the party said.

Under the plans, tenants in England who do not qualify for the housing would be expected to move out of their homes within six months.

Foreign nationals with settled status, refugee status or specific humanitarian protections currently qualify for social housing. Asylum seekers are not eligible for social housing, unless in exceptional circumstances such as domestic abuse cases.

Sarah Elliott, the chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: “These divisive plans would brutally kick people out of their homes, including thousands of families and pensioners who have lived in them for decades. And let’s not forget that social tenants pay rent, which goes back to the public purse and into society.”

Richard Partington

Primary schools in England should be required to identify children at risk of leaving education at 16 without finding a job, a government review is to recommend.

Alan Milburn, who is leading a review into Britain’s crisis in youth worklessness, said he would call for sweeping changes in education policy alongside a shake-up of the benefits system to address the problem.

Speaking to the Guardian, he said ministers needed to “make somebody responsible” for identifying and supporting the children who risked becoming Neet (not in employment, education or training) after their GCSE year up to the age of 24.

“The warning signs are there from a very early, early age. You know, frankly from preschool,” he said.