Today's Home Office stories include public attitudes on immigration, the Kweku Adoboli Case and modern slavery victims.
Public attitudes on immigration
Many of the papers including the Times, Sun, Guardian, Mail, Express as well as the Press Association report on research conducted by thinktank British Future, and anti-racism and anti-extremism charity Hope not Hate about public attitudes on the immigration system.
A consultation of almost 20,000 people found only 15 per cent of Britons think that the Government has managed immigration competently and fairly and just 17 per cent trusted the Government to tell the truth about immigration while 13 per cent trusted MPs to tell the truth.
The research also found that four in 10 people say multiculturalism has undermined British culture and that migrants do not properly integrate. At the same time 65% of respondents believed migrants supported the economy.
A Home Office statement in response to this story can be found below.
A Home Office spokesman said:
"We are committed to bringing net migration down to sustainable levels. There is no consent in Britain for uncontrolled immigration.
"After we leave the EU we will end free movement, take back control of our borders and put in place an immigration system which works in the best interests of the UK.
"We are considering a range of options that will ensure we are in control of our borders and managing migration, while continuing to attract and retain people who come here to work and bring significant benefits."
Kweku Adoboli Case
The Mail and Guardian carry further reports on the case of Kweku Adoboli, the UBS trader jailed for the UK’s biggest ever fraud while working for the Swiss lender.
Both papers report that he is expected to file a judicial review today on the decision to deport him to Ghana, in a last-ditch attempt to stop his deportation from the UK, where he has lived since he was 12. A Home Office statement in response to this story can be found below.
A Home Office spokesperson said:
“All foreign nationals who are given a custodial sentence will be considered for removal.
“Foreign nationals who abuse our hospitality by committing crimes in the UK should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them and we have removed more than 43,000 foreign offenders since 2010.”
Modern Slavery
The Independent’s front page is on how female trafficking victims are being held in prison in breach of the law because of the Government’s failure to identify exploitation.
The paper says foreign national women who have committed offences as a result of coercion by traffickers are routinely jailed which campaigners say is a breach of the Modern Slavery Act.
Research into the issue was conducted by Prison Reform Trust which found that of 585 foreign women prisoners, 45 were identified as victims of trafficking.
A Government spokesperson statement is carried in the article which can be found below.
A Government spokesperson said:
“Modern slavery and human trafficking are abhorrent crimes which this Government is working to tackle.
“We have been clear that, as set out in the Modern Slavery Act, victims of modern slavery should not be prosecuted for criminal offences they were forced to commit as a result of exploitation.
“We have commissioned an independent review of the Modern Slavery Act which will consider the implementation of the statutory defence for victims and help us to identify what more we can do to tackle these terrible crimes.”