In a tumultuous week for British politics, immigration policy, and civil liberties, London has become the epicenter of a series of dramatic events that have shone a harsh spotlight on the Labour government’s approach to migrants, protesters, and free speech. From sweeping changes to work visa rules that threaten to upend the lives of hundreds of transport workers, to mass arrests of peaceful demonstrators and a controversial court case involving a Labour councillor, the city’s streets and courtrooms have been sites of both anguish and defiance.
For Adeoye, Ade, and Arjun—three migrant workers employed by Transport for London (TfL)—the future has never looked more uncertain. According to Socialist Worker, their hopes for long-term residency and family reunification in Britain have been dashed by the Labour government’s new immigration white paper, which was unveiled in May 2025 and took effect on July 22. The policy raised the minimum salary threshold for skilled worker visas to £41,700 and, crucially, removed essential transport jobs from the list of approved roles eligible for sponsorship. The result? Scores of TfL employees on two-year graduate visas, like Adeoye, Ade, and Arjun, now face imminent job loss and deportation as their visas expire within the coming year.
"I chose to work for TfL because it had good opportunities. It was a good job. We could get sponsored if we worked hard, we could progress," Adeoye told Socialist Worker. But with the new rules, that path has vanished. TfL has already begun advertising their positions, and, as Adeoye lamented, "We’re all just numbers to them. I’m just one customer service assistant, they can get another. They don’t think about what happens to me after. No care at all for the person actually doing the job." The changes have also separated Adeoye from his wife and two-year-old son, who remain in Nigeria and are now unable to join him. "I cannot be with my son. I cannot watch him grow. I only see him two times a year," he said, describing the "anxiety" and "pain" the new rules have caused.
Arjun, who moved to London from India in 2023 with his wife and their dog, echoed the sense of betrayal. He recounted how they "did everything the right way. Go to university, get a job, work your way up. We sold all our possessions for the chance at a better life, to be able to afford to just get here. It cost us £50,000 in that first year, just to breathe in this country." Despite working multiple jobs—including a stint in railway security and later as a special requirements team member for TfL—Arjun and his wife now face the prospect of forced departure. "Because they waited so long to say that there was nothing they could do for us, there are no other routes that we are eligible for. We’re completely undesirable because employers won’t take on people who have less than a year left on their visas," he told Socialist Worker.
Arjun’s contributions have not gone unnoticed—he received five "Make a Difference" awards in just five months, including recognition for helping save a person’s life after a fall in a station. Yet, as he put it, "As immigrants we try harder than anyone to try to prove ourselves in the hopes to be accepted... We give so much, and spend so much because of the cost of the visa fees. My colleagues always ask me ‘Why are you doing so much overtime?’ and I tell them I’m just trying to pay the government." Despite following every rule, "they then smashed the book in our faces."
The impact is widespread. Ade, another TfL customer service assistant who moved from Nigeria in 2023, estimates that "up to 100 customer service assistants and 80 customer service supervisors" face deportation. "People have abandoned their lives back home to make a life here. We’ve been here for two to three years. Doesn’t anyone think about what will happen to us? We have nothing to go back to. We’ve made Britain our home. This is a big injustice, but I have to keep the faith that this is a fight we’re going to win."
These workers are not alone. The RMT union has stepped in to support their struggle, with Adeoye stating, "We are trying to support each other to force their hand... The RMT has to move fast now, some workers’ visas expire really soon." Plans for collective action are underway, including a protest on September 11, and the possibility of strikes looms large. "To put the pressure on TfL and the government, I think that will mean we have to go on strike. Other members of staff will have to understand the impact these rules have on us so that they come out and stand with us. Then we stand a chance of getting TfL and the government to undo this."
Meanwhile, the political climate has grown even more charged. On August 7, 2024, Labour councillor Ricky Jones made headlines after a speech at an anti-racism rally in Walthamstow, where he referenced "disgusting Nazi fascists" and called for far-right activists’ throats to be cut. The comments, captured on video, led to his arrest and a charge of encouraging violent disorder. However, as reported by the BBC, a jury at Snaresbrook Crown Court found Jones not guilty on August 15, 2025, after less than an hour of deliberation. Jones insisted his remarks were not meant to be taken literally, explaining they were directed at far-right activists who had left razor blades hidden behind stickers on trains—a threat to public safety, especially for women and children. "I’ve always believed the best way to make people realise who you are and what you are is to do it peacefully," Jones told the court.
Reactions to the verdict have been sharply divided. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called it "astonishing" and an example of "two-tier justice," contrasting Jones’s acquittal with the 31-month sentence handed to Lucy Connolly, a childminder jailed for inciting race hate online. Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, echoed the criticism, calling the decision "another outrageous example of two-tier justice." The Ministry of Justice, for its part, emphasized that "sentencing decisions are made by the independent judiciary and are not for us to comment on." Jones remains suspended by the Labour Party, pending an internal investigation.
The sense of injustice is not limited to the courtroom. On August 9, 2025, British police arrested 532 people in Parliament Square, London, for holding placards supporting the now-proscribed group Palestine Action. As Statewatch reported, the arrests came as part of a sweeping crackdown following the government’s July ban on the group, which had targeted Royal Air Force planes in protest against UK support for Israel’s actions in Gaza. Under the new law, even expressing support for Palestine Action is punishable by up to 14 years in prison. The police operation, one of the largest mass arrests in decades, saw thousands of officers deployed and included the forcible removal of many elderly protesters—half of those arrested were over the age of 60.
The government has also announced that foreign nationals convicted of any criminal offence will now face immediate deportation, alongside plans to expand the "deport first, appeal later" system. Critics, including over 200 organizations who signed an open letter this week, warn that such measures, combined with "divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language" from mainstream parties, are fueling a rise in violent far-right activity across the country. The Institute of Race Relations argues that the government’s failure to acknowledge the role of far-right ideologues in recent violence effectively abandons asylum seekers to intimidation and attacks.
As mass protests continue and the legal battle over the Palestine Action ban heads to court in November, the Labour government faces mounting pressure from all sides—unions, former officials, and a public increasingly alarmed by what many see as a crackdown on dissent and a betrayal of the values that once defined Britain’s approach to migration and protest.
For now, the fate of migrant workers, protesters, and even elected officials hangs in the balance, as the nation grapples with the consequences of its shifting political winds and the human stories caught in their wake.
