THE Home Office has been forced to delete a “dangerous” video which attacked lawyers for challenging deportations.
The clip, posted on social media, targeted “activist lawyers” who allegedly “abuse” regulations to protect their clients.
It sparked outrage in legal circles and culminated in a formal complaint being lodged by the Law Society.
The organisation branded the video “misleading and dangerous" and insisted lawyers defending the rights of asylum seekers were "merely doing their jobs".
Home Office Permanent Secretary Matthew Rycroft admitted the phrase “activist lawyer” should not have been used in an official video, which detailed how the Government is working to remove people with no right to remain in the UK The civil servant said: "I have made clear to the team this post should not be used again from Home Office accounts or anywhere else by civil servants."
READ MORE: Home Office tweet attacking 'activist lawyers' sparks backlash
Although the department conceded the clip should not have been posted, it did not explain why.
It also stood firm on its condemnation of lawyers who challenge deportations.
A spokeswoman told the Mirror: "The Government's efforts to facilitate entirely legitimate and legal returns of people who have entered the UK through illegal routes are too often frustrated by last minute challenges submitted hours before a scheduled flight.
"These claims are very often baseless and entirely without merit, but are given full legal consideration, leading to removal being rescheduled.
"This can effectively result in the timing out of a return due to stringent Dublin Regulations.
"It is right that we seek to remove migrants who have travelled through a safe country and have no right to remain in the UK."
The social media post, published on Wednesday night, was described as “obscene”, coming shortly after Mercy Beguma was found dead in Glasgow with her distressed one-year-old son by her side. It is understood the Ugandan mother had been “functionally destitute” since losing her right to work when her leave to remain expired.
Strathclyde University law professor Paul James Cardwell tweeted: “Difficult to know where to begin with this obscene clip, a day after a young woman died of extreme poverty after claiming asylum and being unable to work.
“Current regulations are ‘open to abuse’. What ‘abuse’? For an immigration-obsessed government in power for 10 years you might have expected to have solved this if it is such a big issue.
“Attack on ‘activist lawyers’. Lawyers act on behalf of their clients and use the means allowed *in law* to get the best result for their clients. But aim here is to cast the blame wider than migrants themselves.”
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