LAWYERS representing migrants have been physically and verbally attacked after the government described them as “activists” seeking to disrupt the deportation system, MPs said today.

A video posted by the Home Office on social media in August said that the asylum system was “open to abuse” and was allowing legal representatives to “delay and disrupt returns” of people.

The Law Society has said it was “misleading and dangerous,” and Home Office permanent secretary Matthew Rycroft has said it “should not have been used on an official government channel.”