An image shows a list of MPs who voted against the deportation of foreign rapists.
This is not quite right—those named didn’t take part in any such vote. The image shows part of a list of 178 MPs and peers who signed a letter asking the government to halt the deportation of foreign criminals, some of whom were rapists, until after a report into the Windrush scandal had been published and its recommendations implemented.
A viral image featuring a list of politicians is circulating online with claims those named on it “voted against deporting foreign rapists”.
This isn’t quite right—those named didn’t take part in any such vote. The image actually shows part of a list of MPs and peers who signed a letter in February 2020 asking the government to halt the deportation of foreign criminals, some of whom had been convicted of rape, until after a report into the Windrush scandal had been published and its recommendations implemented.
The image lists dozens of names and has the House of Commons emblem in the top left corner with the parliamentary office address of Nadia Whittome MP in the other. Text has been added saying: “Here is a list of MP’s [sic] who voted against deporting foreign rapists. They all need removing.”
Politicians featured on the list include the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and several Cabinet ministers, including Wes Streeting, Anneliese Dodds and Lisa Nandy, as well as Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey and the SNP’s Westminster Leader Stephen Flynn.
The Labour peer Baroness Janet Royall, who is a Full Fact trustee, is also among the politicians listed. Trustees are not involved in the day to day operations of Full Fact, or in editorial decisions.
The image has been shared widely on social media in recent weeks, including by the billionaire Elon Musk, who shared the image on X (which he owns) on 7 January with the caption “Remember these names next election”. The post has around 18,000 shares.
Honesty in public debate matters
You can help us take action – and get our regular free email
The image shows part of a list naming 178 MPs and peers who signed a letter in February 2020 to the then-Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, asking him to suspend a flight to deport 50 people to Jamaica until a report into the Windrush scandal had been published. Such a letter is not the same as a parliamentary vote.
The letter, dated 9 February 2020, said there was an “unacceptable risk” of removing someone with a potential Windrush claim, and that there had been “a failure by the government to remedy the causes of the Windrush scandal”. It added: “It is, therefore, crucial that all further deportations are cancelled until the long-awaited Lessons Learned Review is published, and its recommendations implemented.”
The letter did not mention the nature of the offences committed by those due to be deported.
It came after a leaked draft of the Windrush report said the government should consider ending the deportation of foreign-born offenders who came to the UK as children. At the time, Labour’s David Lammy MP said at the time that many of those scheduled to be deported on the February 2020 flight had come to the UK as children.
The Windrush report, which was later published in March 2020, recommended that the Home Office ensure “no-one from the Windrush generation has been wrongly caught up in the enforcement of laws intended to apply to foreign offenders”.
The then-government said that those scheduled to be on the flight included “people who have been convicted of rape—rape of children—firearms offences, and serious drug offences”. The flight did take off on 11 February 2020 despite the letter, but not all of those who were originally scheduled to be on the flight ended up being on board.
A Court of Appeal ruling blocked the removal of 25 people who were supposed to have been aboard the flight after lawyers argued some could not get legal advice due to issues with a mobile phone mast. A spokesman for the Prime Minister said two who had been stopped from leaving were convicted of offences “in the category of rape or sexual offences”.
Seventeen Jamaican nationals who had been convicted of criminal offences and given prison sentences of at least 12 months were deported on the flight. Two of these people had been convicted of rape, three for robbery, one for burglary, three for violent crime including GBH (grievous bodily harm) and eight for drug offences. The Home Office said at the time that they had “a combined sentence length of 75 years, as well as a life sentence”.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because the list doesn’t name MPs who “voted” against the deportation of foreign rapists—the MPs and peers named were signatories to a letter asking the government to halt the deportation of foreign criminals, some of whom were rapists, until a report into the Windrush scandal had been published.
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.
Bad information ruins lives. It promotes hate, damages people’s health, and hurts democracy. You deserve better.