Michaela Coel has claimed Britain is ‘no longer attractive’ to West Africans amid anti-immigration marches which have made her feel ‘more at peace’ in Ghana.
The two-time BAFTA award-winning actress, 38, grew up in east London but now splits her time between the capital and her home in Ghana.
In a new interview Coel has opened up about life in the United Kingdom amid what she describes as ‘odd’ protests over immigration, one of which she watched from her London home.
‘It just seems a bit odd because I don’t think many people are racing to immigrate to the UK like they used to,’ she told The Sunday Times.
‘I think more and more, if people can find a way out – I’m talking particularly for West Africans – they will go. I think the UK has lost the attraction it once had.’
Right-wing activist Tommy Robinson’s ‘Unite The Kingdom’ rally in September saw protesters march from Stamford Street to the southern end of Whitehall.
Crowds voiced their anger over free speech and Britain’s small-boats crisis before Tesla CEO Elon Musk criticised the British government in a guest video appearance. He urged marchers to ‘fight back or die’ and spoke of the ‘rapidly increasing erosion of Britain’.
A second march through the capital is set to go ahead next month, with Sharon Osbourne controversially announcing last week that she will be in attendance.
However Coel said she feels ‘more at peace’ in her native Ghana as she gears up for her return to screens with the new BBC series First Day on Earth.
Filming for the ten-part series has already begun in Ghana, with Coel set to both feature in and executive produce the project.
The actress rose to fame when she secured the lead role in Channel 4’s Chewing Gum and made her directorial debut with 12-part HBO series I May Destroy You.
She went on to win Outstanding Writing for a Television Limited Anthology Series or Movie at the Emmys and five Baftas for the project.
Since Labour came to power, the country’s small-boats crisis has spiralled with some 70,701 migrants crossing the Channel.
It is estimated that 602 migrants reached the UK on Saturday alone, in figures which pushed this year’s running total past the 6,000 mark.
In his latest pledge, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage vowed to ‘immediately detain’ and deport around 400,000 asylum seekers if his party wins the next election.
Revealing new details of its promise to tighten border controls, Farage said all illegal migrants who arrived in the five years prior to the next election would be locked up.
It would include those who arrived by small boat or clandestinely in the backs of lorries, as well as those who claimed asylum using fake documents, the party said.
The figure would come on top of 600,000 deportations Reform last year indicated it would enforce, making a total of one million.
A Reform government would review all grants of asylum going back five years, leading to further deportations.
Anyone who claimed asylum after overstaying a visa would be detained and deported, the party’s new policy set out.
A third category of asylum seeker – those whose home countries are now deemed to be safe – would also be stripped of their visas and be eligible for removal.
The detention of such large numbers of people would pose a huge challenge as the current capacity of immigration removal centres is less than 3,000 beds.
But a Reform spokesman predicted many of those targeted by the new policy would choose to leave Britain voluntarily.
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf accused Labour and the previous Conservative government of allowing Britain to be ‘invaded’ by asylum seekers.
‘For years, Tory and Labour governments have presided over an invasion of Britain,’ he said. They have effectively operated an open borders policy.
‘Instead of upholding the law, they have rewarded those who broke it by entering Britain illegally. Reform will reverse this.’
He added: ‘Today we announce that a Reform government will review the previous five years of asylum grants, and anyone who broke into the country illegally or overstayed on another visa will be stripped of their status and deported.
‘We will do what it takes to restore justice in Britain.’
Labour’s ‘one in, one out’ scheme launched last year allowing small boat migrants to be returned to France has seen 377 removed so far but 380 have been brought into the UK under the reciprocal terms of the deal. The scheme is due to end in June.
In a further sign that Labour’s small boats policies are in disarray, the head of the UK’s border security command stepped down at the end of last month after failing to stem the surge in crossings.
Sir Keir Starmer appointed Martin Hewitt, a former senior police officer, shortly after becoming Prime Minister – tasking him with curbing numbers crossing the Channel.
But during his 18 months in the job crossings continued at sky-high levels, with last year witnessing the second-highest annual total on record.
