Braverman's emotive words about migrants put border staff at risk, union warns

Border Force staff are being put at risk by the home secretary's "escalation of highly emotive language about asylum seekers", the government has been warned. In a letter sent to Home Office chief Sir Matthew Rycroft yesterday, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said members had "significant concerns" over the Illegal Migration Bill and whether it was "within the confines of the law and international treaties".

- LIZZIE DEARDEN

Officials James Cox and Peter Wright wrote that vows to "stop the boats" and describing Channel crossings as an "invasion" have consequences for people working in processing centres.

"These are consequences which potentially put our members at risk," the letter added. "There have been demonstrations and some violence around hotels housing migrants. Furthermore, there was the shocking case of the firebombing of the migrant arrival site last year." Proposals to turn back all arrivals have provoked a huge row, with the government saying something must be done to stop migrants as the number of people arriving on small boats rose by 60 per cent between 2021 and 2022, to 46,000. But the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) has condemned the idea as illegal.

Ms Braverman called Channel crossings an "invasion" in parliament the day after the firebombing, which was declared a terror attack by police and injured two members of staff at the Western Jet Foil processing centre.

The PCS said Border Force staff in Dover and Kent were on the frontline of a "state of tension over immigration policy", with local officers "in danger of both physical and verbal attacks". The union said Ms Braverman was "in part, responsible for the escalation of language which demonises asylum seekers and seeks to dehumanise them".