Man Deported From UK On Controversial Flight To Jamaica ‘Tests Positive For COVID’

The deportation flight had already sparked outrage and accusations of institutional racism. It was reported that several of the men on board the aeroplane were taken off the charter flight hours before it was due to leave after legal interventions saw them granted eleventh-hour reprieves after the Home Office acknowledged they may be victims of modern slavery.

Thirteen people, among them, fathers of British children, were forcibly removed from the UK to Jamaica in the early hours of Thursday. Windrush victims have criticised comments made by Priti Patel in a newspaper article about the deportation flight.

The home secretary criticised 90 “do-gooding” celebrities, including model Naomi Campbell and actress Thandie Newton, who had called for the cancellation of the flights. Windrush campaigners wrote to the Home Office and said Ms Patel’s remarks were “ill-judged and ill-informed”, and accused her of using the Windrush name to score political points.