Activists slam BA for Pride sponsorship amid deportation row

Britney Spears is set to take the stage on Saturday in Brighton's Preston Park

British Airways has been criticised for sponsoring the UK's biggest Pride event while helping to deport people who may face persecution for their sexuality.

In a letter in the Guardian, Lesbians and Gays Support the Migrants called on BA to end its government co-operation.

The city of Brighton is gearing up for a weekend of festivities with Britney Spears set to perform on Saturday.

BA said it was bound by law to assist with deportations when asked by the government.

It added: "We are not given any personal information about the individual being deported, including their sexuality or why they are being deported."

More than 50,000 people have signed an online petition calling on the airline to stop helping the Home Office deport people.

The open letter says: "Many of those deported on British Airways are LGBTQIA+ people who should be marching with us at the parade but are instead brutally rounded up and ejected from the UK to face poverty, persecution and, in some cases, death."

Signatories include Shadow Home Secretary Dianne Abbott as well as MPs David Lammy and Lloyd Russell-Moyle, who represents Brighton Kemptown, plus the Green Party's equalities spokeswoman Aimee Challenor.

The large rainbow Pride banner will be carried through the streets during the parade at the weekend

Campaign spokesman Sam Bjorn said: "We won't stand by and let British Airways use its Pride sponsorship to polish its image while it is complicit in the Home Office's cruel deportations."

A BA spokeswoman said that legally airlines can only refuse deportees on the basis that there is a threat to the safety or security of the aircraft, its passengers or the individual.

She said the company was proud to support Pride and the airline had a "long and proud history" of supporting the community.

A Home Office spokeswoman claimed the UK was a "world leader" in handling asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.

It said: "No one who is found to be at risk of persecution on the grounds of sexual orientation and/or gender identity will be returned to their country of origin.

"However, where someone is found not to need international protection and has no other basis to remain in the UK, we do expect them to leave."

Police officers join the crowd at last year's Pride in Brighton