BAFTAs 2017: Watch Ken Loach's passionate attack on the Government's 'disgraceful' treatment of refugees

'Filmmakers know which side they are on and despite the glitz and glamour of occasions like this, we are with the people'

It was entirely expected for any acceptance speech Ken Loach may make on behalf of I, Daniel Blake to be politically-flavoured in nature.

An outspoken director both in real and cinematic terms, Loach has made himself a leading figure in the fight for social progression, both in his words and in his work - which has time and time again shed light on the inequalities which weigh down the UK as a nation.

Winning the BAFTA for Best British Film, Loach used the platform to speak out both against the current state of the benefits systems - which forms the underpinning theme of his film - and the Government's reversal on its promises to accept thousands of refugee children fleeing the terrors of Syria and other deadly conflicts.

Loach stated, "Thank you to the academy for endorsing the truths of what the film says, which hundreds and thousands of people in this country know, the most vulnerable and poorest are treated by the Government with a callous brutality that is disgraceful, a brutality that extends to keeping out refugee children we promised to help and that's a disgrace too."

"Films can do many things, they can entertain, terrify, they can make us laugh and tell us something about the real world we live in - sorry it's early for a political speech - and in that real world it's getting darker and in the struggle that is coming between rich and poor and the wealthy and the privileged and the big corporations and politicians who speak for them."

"The rest of us on the other side - filmmakers know which side they are on and despite the glitz and glamour of occasions like this, we are with the people."

You can see the full list of BAFTA winners here.