Kachepa Family Used

6.06.54pm BST (GMT +0100) Tue 26th Jul 2005

Graham Oakes has condemned the decision to deport Verah Kachepa and her family from Weymouth as "callous and cynical‰.

"This family have been disgracefully treated. The way they were snatched from their home in a dawn raid, the actions of the male member of staff who forced the teenage daughter to undress in front of him and finally their deportation is a matter of shame."

Graham Oakes also criticised Jim Knight, MP for South Dorset:

"Mr Knight made much of having a Labour MP with a Labour government, yet even as a part of that government he could not help a family he professed to support. I find it hard to believe he did not know the government decision before the meeting the family had last week. If he did then he used this family as part of a political sham."

"The decision to delay deportation until after the General Election in Labour,s most vulnerable seat now looks like a cheap trick. This will not be forgotten."