Taxpayer hands £21m to ‘illegally held’ migrants

The Home Office has paid £21.2million to migrants it unlawfully detained in the past five years.

Andrew Mitchell, the Tory former minister, unearthed the figure in a written question. The Home Office said that while a court may later rule an individual was unlawfully detained, it did not mean the original decision was “taken in bad faith”.

But Afzal Khan, Labour’s shadow immigration minister, said the payouts raised “serious questions” about decision-making, calling the Government’s detention policy cruel and costly. The Home Office said its decisions were taken with care.