Shabana Mahmood has condemned small boat migrants who lodge last-minute legal challenges after the Government’s ‘one in, one out’ policy was left in disarray.
The Home Secretary said migrants ‘make a mockery of our laws’ when they try to block their deportation by claiming they are victims of ‘modern slavery’.
Her comments are the most robust acknowledgment yet made by a Labour minister of how legal challenges are deployed to frustrate deportation measures.
However, Ms Mahmood was warned earlier this week by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp that the returns agreement with France was doomed to face a ‘slew of last-minute legal challenges’.
Since the new policy was announced in July the Government has been repeatedly cautioned that it was vulnerable to human rights and modern slavery claims.
