Theresa May was aware and not opposed to 'Go Home' immigration vans, suggests Home Office statement

PM's former chief of staff claims she was 'on holiday' when decision to launch controversial scheme was made

A Home Office statement has appeared to contradict claims by Theresa May's former chief of staff suggesting the prime minister was opposed to controversial "Go Home" immigration enforcement vans.

Nick Timothy, who served as one of Ms May's special advisers at the Home Office and became her joint chief of staff when she entered Downing Street, said the decision had been made when the then Home Secretary was on holiday.

However, a statement from a Home Office minister in 2016 said: "Theresa May MP was informed of the intention to pilot this campaign."

Mr Timothy used his regular column in The Telegraph to this week defend Ms May over her role in creating a "hostile environment" for immigrants.

He wrote: "As Home Secretary, Theresa May was criticised for the notorious 'go home or face arrest' vans that were deployed in 2013.

"In fact, she blocked the proposal, but it was revived and approved in a communications plan while she was on holiday. She killed off the scheme later that year, but by then the damage had been done."

But a Home Office response from 2016 appears to contradict claims the vans were introduced without Ms May's knowledge.

Answering a question from Labour MP Tulip Siddiq in July 2016, then immigration minister Robert Goodwill said: "The pilot to use the AdVans referred to was authorised by former immigration minister Rt. Hon. Mark Harper MP. The former Home Secretary, Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP was informed of the intention to pilot this campaign."

The controversial vans, which carried signs reading "In the UK illegally? Go home or face arrest", were driven around areas with large immigrant communities in the summer of 2013.

They were widely criticised at the time, including by Liberal Democrat ministers who were then part of the Coalition Government. Labour accused the government of using the "language of the National Front".

The "hostile environment" that Ms May vowed to create for illegal immigrants has been heavily scrutinised this week in the wake of the Windrush fiasco, which has seen Caribbean immigrants who have lived in Britain for decades facing deportation for being unable to prove their legal right to stay in the country.

The issue came to light following new regulations introduced in an attempt to clamp down on illegal immigrants that forced Windrush and other immigrants living in the UK legally to prove their right to remain. However, a lack of official documentation has led to many struggling to do so, and losing jobs, pensions and healthcare as a result.