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Revealed: the public really reviled Patel’s pretty harsh immigration plans

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

THE previously secret “public consultation” on Tory Home Secretary Priti Patel’s harsh 2021 immigration plans shows most responders were “strongly critical” of her scheme, even though the government claimed the consultation showed “support” for her “ambitions.”

Patel’s 2021 plans included dragging small boats away from Britain, forcing migrants to stop in the first “safe country” they reached and “offshore processing” — which became the abortive “Rwanda scheme.” Results of “public consultations” on new laws are usually available to the public.

However, Patel made her 2021 consultation secret by outsourcing it to “Britain Thinks,” the opinion polling company then run by Starmer adviser Deborah Mattinson. The government has resisted attempts by the Morning Star to get the document under Freedom of Information since 2022. The Home Office was finally persuaded to release it this April after pressure from the information commissioner, who took our side.

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