The prime minister has said the migrant who was mistakenly released from prison and found again will be deported following an error that Reform UK likened to a “Monty Python sketch”.

Sir Keir Starmer said police officers had worked “quickly and diligently to bring him back into custody” and that the government had “ordered an investigation to establish what went wrong”.

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Hadush Kebatu, who was found guilty in September of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and a woman in Epping, was freed in error from HMP Chelmsford in Essex on Friday instead of being handed over to immigration officials for deportation.

His accidental release sparked widespread alarm and a manhunt that resulted in him being found and arrested by the Metropolitan Police in the Finsbury Park area of London at around 8.30am on Sunday.

The incident has sparked questions over how the man – whose crimes sparked protests in Epping over the use of asylum hotels – was able to be freed.

Opposition parties have said the government has “serious questions” to answer over the incident.

Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy, said that while he was “relieved” Kebatu had been re-arrested, the case was a sign of Britain’s “descent into a Monty Python sketch”.

He referred to a Sky News report detailing how the wanted migrant spoke to a delivery driver at Chelmsford prison and appeared “confused” at why he had been released.

“This is a man who the eyewitnesses said was actively trying to go back into prison after being accidentally let go,” Mr Yusuf said.

He said the case was “absolutely shocking” and questioned how victims of sexual assault could have confidence in the government.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said Kebatu should “never have been released in the first place” and called on the home secretary and justice secretary to apologise.

Pressed on the state of the prison system during the Conservatives’ 14 years in power, Mr Philp said: “They’ve been in charge now for almost a year and a half, so I think they do have to take responsibility for the system.

“This failing with the release of this man by accident happened under the Labour government and, as I say, I think the justice secretary and home secretary should apologise.”

Their concerns were echoed by Marie Goldman, the Liberal Democrat MP for Chelmsford, who told Sky News the incident was a sign of “systemic failure”.

She said she had spoken to the prison service and had been told to expect the initial findings into what went wrong “pretty quickly”.

“We had figures from His Majesty’s Prison Probation Service saying that 262 prisoners were released in error in the year leading to March of this year,” she said.

“That shows that it’s a systemic failure. This is happening all over the country.”

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Commander James Conway praised the “diligent and fast paced investigation” that led to Kebatu’s arrest and revealed it was information from the public that led officers to Finsbury Park, where he was discovered.

Speaking on Sky News before Kebatu was found, Health Secretary Wes Streeting told Trevor Phillips that Justice Secretary David Lammy had commissioned an investigation into what had gone wrong.

“We know that one prison officer has been suspended already, but there does need to be accountability for such an egregious failure,” he added.

Reform UK has defended one of its MPs who has been accused of “racism” after she complained about the number of black and Asian people in TV adverts.

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s head of policy, described Sarah Pochin as a “close friend” and “great MP”, and acknowledged she had made the “poorly phrased” comments and had apologised.

However, speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, he said her comments had to be “put into context”, adding people must be able to “talk about” representation in television advertising.

Mr Yusuf said he believed the Talk TV caller who Ms Pochin was in conversation with was “right to be upset about the massive under-representation of some groups in television advertising and significant overrepresentation of others – and we have to be able to talk about these things”.

He added: “I think is a very valid point. We must be able to talk about it.”

Ms Pochin, the Reform MP for Runcorn and Helsby, is under fire after telling the viewer it “drives me mad when I see adverts full of black people, full of Asian people”.

She said such adverts did not “reflect our society” and added: “I feel that your average white person, average white family is… not represented any more.”

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Ms Pochin has since apologised for her comments, but Health Secretary Wes Streeting said her comments were “a disgrace” and hit out at Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage for not rebuking her.

The Liberal Democrats have demanded that she lose the party whip, which would force her to sit as an independent MP in the Commons.

In a statement issuing her apology, Ms Pochin said: “My comments were phrased poorly, and I apologise for any offence caused, which was not my intention.

“The point I was trying to make is that the British advertising agency world have gone DEI [diversity, equity and inclusion] mad and many adverts are now unrepresentative of British society as a whole.

“I will endeavour to ensure my language is more accurate going forward.”

Max Wilkinson, the Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson, said her apology was “nothing more than a shameless attempt to dodge responsibility for her own words”.

“Instead of showing a shred of remorse, she’s doubled down and tried to excuse the inexcusable,” he said.

“Nigel Farage keeps insisting that racism has no place in his party. Now is his chance to prove it – he must withdraw the whip or concede that Reform tolerates blatant racism.”

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Mr Streeting also condemned Ms Pochin’s comments, telling the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “She’s only sorry that she’s been caught and called out.

“What we have seen on our streets in recent weeks and months is a return of 1970s, 1980s-style racism that I thought we had left in the history books.

“The only way we are going to defeat this racism is to call it out and confront it for what it is

“The deafening silence from her party leader says it all.”

Earlier this year, Ms Pochin sparked controversy when she asked Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer whether he would follow the lead of some European countries in banning the burka.

Mr Yusuf resigned from the party later that day, but subsequently rejoined.