Home Secretary Priti Patel speaks during the Conservative Party Spring Forum at Winter Gardens, Blackpool
PRITI PATEL’S secret policy of seizing phones from Channel-crossing asylum-seekers and extracting data was unlawful and breached their human rights, the High Court has ruled.
The blanket policy, which operated in 2020, saw nearly 2,000 phones confiscated from new arrivals, some of whom were threatened with criminal penalties if they did not hand over their PIN numbers.
Three asylum-seekers subjected to the policy took the Home Secretary to court arguing that the seizure of their phones and extraction of data was unlawful.
During the case, the Home Secretary conceded that some elements of the policy were unlawful, but maintained that she had the right under a power in the Immigration Act 2016 to seize and extract data from phones.
DIANE ABBOTT warns that Shabana Mahmood’s draconian asylum proposals fuel racist scapegoating and risk demoralising Labour’s base – potentially paving the way for Farage to No 10
Secret consultation documents finally released after the Morning Star’s two-year freedom of information battle show the Home Office misrepresented public opinion, claiming support for policies that most respondents actually strongly criticised as dangerous and unfair, writes SOLOMON HUGHES