Labour deportations: nearly 60,000 returns in 19 months, with January dip

Provisional Home Office data show about 60,000 foreign nationals were removed from the UK in the 19 months since Labour took office in July 2024, a 15% rise from the prior period, while January 2026 recorded the lowest removals in almost three years largely due to fewer voluntary departures. Under Labour, voluntary departures have made up around three-quarters of removals, but that share fell to 62% in January; final figures may change when published. Labour has pledged to increase returns for people with no legal right to be in the UK, and there are no official statistics on the number of people in the country illegally. For more, BBC Verify’s migration tracker is referenced in the update.