Brexit: Deportations of EU citizens soar since referendum

Analysis of official government data shows there were 26 per cent more enforced removals of EU nationals in the first three months of 2017 than in the same period last year.

Almost 5,000 EU citizens have now been deported from Britain in the last 12 months: the highest since current records began and an increase of 14 percent in the last year alone. The figures come after a leaked Home Office memo revealed comprehensive plans to significantly restrict immigration from Europe when Britain leaves the EU.

Meanwhile, Tony Blair yesterday called for tough new rules to allow Britain to curb EU immigration to change voters' minds about Brexit.

The former Prime Minister admitted open borders were no longer appropriate, putting his name to a report urging tighter domestic controls and restrictions to free movement negotiated within the EU.

Human rights campaigners told The Independent that many of the removals are illegal, while Labour called the figures "disgraceful" and said they could make Brexit talks more difficult. The policies causing the clampdown are currently being challenged in UK courts.

The number of EU citizens being removed from the UK has now increased fivefold since 2010. It reached 4,754 in 2016 – up from just 973 in the year the Conservatives came to power. The rapid rise followed a fall of more than 74 per cent in the previous six years, down from 3,779 in 2004. It comes despite a significant drop in the total number of people being deported, suggesting the focus of the Home Office and its immigration enforcement units has shifted specifically towards immigrants from EU countries.