From 26m agoGovernment says more people working illegally are being arrested and deportedMorning 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: