GMB host Adil Ray faces backlash over ‘ignorant’ tweet slamming Priti Patel for joining police raid

Good Morning Britain host Adil Ray today faced a blacklash over an ‘ignorant’ tweet slamming Priti Patel for joining a police raid of people-smuggling suspects.

The broadcaster wrote that the Home Secretary was the daughter of migrants and criticised her for ‘posing for a photo opp’ while out on an operation with the National Crime Agency (NCA) in east London yesterday.

Officers arrested two men accused of using minicab and lorry drivers to move migrants between France and the UK.  

The suspects, aged 52 and 28, were held on suspicion of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration during the swoop in Woodford Green and Bushwood.

Ms Patel was invited to oversee the raid, but social media users were left confused by Mr Ray’s criticism.

Good Morning Britain host Adil Ray today faced a blacklash over an ‘ignorant’ tweet slamming Priti Patel for joining a police raid of people-smuggling suspects

The broadcaster (pictured earlier this week) wrote that the Home Secretary was the daughter of migrants and criticised her for ‘posing for a photo opp’ while out on an operation with the National Crime Agency (NCA) in east London yesterday

Home Secretary Priti Patel joined a police raid as officers arrested people-smuggling suspects accused of minicab and lorry drivers to move migrants between France and the UK

He tweeted: ‘Priti Patel’s parents & mine were told to leave Uganda & Kenya, in some cases to save their lives. 

‘After much protest (at one point they wanted to dump them on the Falklands) UK let them in. 

‘To think years later a daughter of that generation would pose for a photo opp like this.’

One follower replied: ‘This is the arrest of a people smuggling gang I believe. Do you condone people trafficking and slavery? Or are you also disgusted by it?’

Fellow journalist Wyre Davies added: ‘This is a pic from an anti-people smuggling op, I believe, not an immigration ‘raid’?’

A third wrote: ‘It’s a raid of suspected people smugglers, the very people who take advantage of vulnerable people. At best it’s ignorance, at worst an outright lie, but either way you should delete this.’

Yesterday’s operation came after the Home Secretary announced plans to crack down on people smuggling with maximum life sentences for those involved in the crime, and moves to deny asylum to migrants who have travelled through a ‘safe’ country such as France to reach the UK.

Another five people who are all licensed minicab drivers were also arrested for allegedly moving migrants to and from lorry drop-off or pick-up points. 

The men, aged 52 and 28, were held on suspicion of conspiring to facilitate illegal immigration during a National Crime Agency (NCA) swoop in Woodford Green and Bushwood, east London, today

In March Ms Patel announced plans to crack down on people smuggling with maximum life sentences for those involved in the crime, and moves to deny asylum to migrants who have travelled through a ‘safe’ country such as France to reach the UK

Five lorry drivers have already been convicted in relation to the investigation, after migrants were found hidden in the back of their trucks

More than 100 migrants have been intercepted during the operation, including three wanted criminals who were trying to flee the UK, the NCA said

The operation involved more than 130 officers and follows an investigation, codenamed Operation Symbolry, into an organised crime group using a network of predominantly Romanian lorries to smuggle people between France and the UK.

Five lorry drivers have already been convicted in relation to the investigation, after migrants were found hidden in the back of their trucks.

More than 100 migrants have been intercepted during the operation, including three wanted criminals who were trying to flee the UK, the NCA said.

In a Home Office video promoting the raid, Ms Patel says: ‘I’m here this morning because we’ve just seen a significant arrest as part of a very very extensive law enforcement operation against a criminal gang involved in facilitating people smuggling.

‘It’s vital that we smash up these criminal gangs and inaction is simply not an option.’   

The NCA has around 50 ongoing investigations into people trafficking and organised immigration crime.

NCA deputy director of investigations Chris Farrimond said: ‘People smugglers are ruthless, treating migrants as a commodity, and they do not care about the safety of those they transport. We have seen this, tragically, in recent and historical mass fatalities.’