Tory says immigration status of suspects MUST be made public in court

The immigration status of suspects should be made public to end harmful misinformation, the Shadow Home Secretary has said.

Courts and prosecutors should reveal how a defendant entered Britain to stop lies spreading online, according to Chris Philp.

His intervention comes amid heated protests outside The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, which houses migrants, and the false claim that the Southport killer was an asylum seeker, which sparked race riots last summer.

Mr Philp said: 'The Home Office and the Crown Prosecution Service should not be refusing to release details on the immigration status of dangerous perpetrators – the public deserve to know the truth and they need to be protected from foreign criminals.'

Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, added: 'The courts should be required by law to publish, in real time, the nationality and immigration status of those who come before them.