Labour government says more people working illegally are being arrested and deported – UK politics live

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The government said more arrests are being made for illegal working, with Home Office figures showing more than 17,000 people have been arrested since the July 2024 general election – more than double the number recorded in the previous two-year period.

Chaos has descended on the Norfolk town of Thetford for a third night in a row as violent anti-immigration protests saw crowds of people attempt to storm a home believed to be housing asylum seekers.

Norfolk police said two men in their 40s were arrested last night while some of the asylum seekers had to be escorted from homes as a result of the unrest. Speaking on the BBC’s Today programme, Norfolk chief constable Paul Sanford said officers were “subjected to significant aggression”, with one hit with a rock, one bitten and another spat at.

The government is also under pressure to review the potential early release of two of the men who killed PC Andrew Harper. Det Supt Stuart Blaik, who led the investigation in 2019, told the BBC he was “deeply concerned and appalled” by the prospect and that Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers could be freed halfway through their 13-year sentences.