"Go home" Immigration Campaign Van Led To 60 Voluntary Departures

The controversial "go home" vans immigration campaign led to just 60 voluntary departures, the Government has admitted.

The scheme saw vans with billboards reading, "In The UK illegally? Go home or face arrest", driving the streets of six London boroughs during the summer.
It was officially scrapped last week by the Home Secretary, Theresa May, who said the vans had been a "blunt instrument".

She said the scheme would not now be rolled out nationwide after the Home Office admitted the results had been unconvincing.
In a written statement, the Immigration Minister, Mark Harper, said the pilot had yielded 60 voluntary departures, which he said had saved £830,000 because each enforced departure cost £15,000.
He said the scheme, which included putting postcards in shop windows and adverts in newspapers, had only cost £9,740.

The campaign group, Liberty, sent out a rival van

The appearance of the two vans between July 22 and August 22 sparked significant criticism, including from the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, who branded them "stupid and offensive".

Some 224 people complained about the vans to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) investigation which banned them.
It found that claims on the poster that there were "106 arrests last week in your area" were misleading.

However, it was decided the message was "in no way racist" despite the phrase "go home" being reminiscent of slogans used in the past to attack immigrants to the UK.
Speaking last week, the Lib Dem party president, Tim Farron, branded the policy a "cheap political stunt" as he welcomed the move to scrap it.
He said: "The vans represented the worst kind of divisive politics and it seems only one immigrant went home because of them.

"This is a failed project and the Home Office should hold their hands up and admit it was wrong both practically and morally.
"It is important that our borders are protected and secure but this policy - driving a van around some of the most diverse communities in London - is not the way to deliver that."

From Skynews