An increasing number of migrants who may be in the country illegally are getting the right to work in the UK, Sky News can reveal.
Asylum seekers living in migranthotels are being granted work permits before a decision is reached on their asylum claims, due to the length of time they have been waiting.
The Home Office backlog in processing claims means almost 100,000 people had been waiting more than a year for an initial decision on their asylum claim at the end of June this year – an almost 80% increase from this time last year, according to the latest data.
Under UK immigration rules, anyone who has been waiting more than 12 months through no fault of their own can receive a work permit and apply for any job on the country’s shortage occupation list.
Hussein, 34, who lives in a hotel in Staffordshire, is now working full-time for a charity after his work permit was granted in October this year.
He is still waiting for a decision on his asylum status, having arrived in the UK on a small boat at the beginning of July 2022.
Image: Hussein, 34, who lives in a hotel in Staffordshire
He told Sky News he fled Iraqbecause he was concerned that previous work he’d done for Western armies was putting him and his family in danger.
On his phone are pictures of his young daughter back home, who he wants to help financially once he’s earning a regular salary.
He said the £9-a-week given to asylum seekers by the government simply isn’t enough to live on.
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“We are getting very, very little money as financial support,” he said.
Although he has his meals paid for by the taxpayer and served in his hotel, he insists it is not enough.
“In the end as a human being, as a person…life is not only sleeping and eating – you might need clothes, you might need shoes, you might need maybe if you have some habits like smoking or anything, so all of this needs money.”
He is certain that the other men living with him are given hope by watching him find full-time employment.
“Everybody who is seeing me in the hotel, they are also excited because of my job.”
“They are seeing what I’m doing and they want to be the same way,” he added.
Dozens of other migrants at his hotel arrived on the same route as Hussein – on small boats across the Channel.
They, too, are now reaching the threshold for finding paid work.
‘I didn’t choose to come and stay in [a] hotel’
Khalid, 30, from Syria, has been waiting for a decision on his asylum claim for 14 months.
“Many guys here they feel like in prison,” he said.
His work permit has just arrived. He said he will do any job, and doesn’t want to remain living at the expense of the taxpayer.
In broken English he told us: “This is the wrong from the government, not from me. I didn’t choose to come and stay in [a] hotel.
“I start work, I will not stay in the hotel, I can buy, rent or do something, from my business, from my job.”
But not all asylum seekers who are eligible want to get to work before they know what their future holds.
Khater, 30, from Sudan, said that without the Home Office declaring his asylum claim valid he will not attempt to find work.
He said he also wants to study more: “I want to improve my language first and speak fluently, and then I’m going to get a job.”
Image: In November 2022, 51,189 asylum seekers had been waiting more than a year for an initial decision on their claim according to figures released to the Refugee Council
Another asylum seeker from Sudan – Elamin, 30 – admited the reason he came to the UK is to earn money.
“I want to be independent more – to help my family [in Sudan].”
According to figures seen by Sky News, around 91,000 people were waiting more than a year for a decision on their asylum claims by the end of June 2023.
That figure makes up more than half (52%) of the entire backlog of asylum claims at the Home Office.
‘I can understand why the public would be outraged’
In November 2022, 51,189 asylum seekers had been waiting more than a year for an initial decision on their claim according to figures released to the Refugee Council following a Freedom of Information request, meaning the backlog is growing at an alarming rate for some immigration solicitors.
Monira Hussain, an immigration lawyer in Oldham, said that enquiries from asylum seekers requesting help with their applications for work permits are now a daily occurrence.
Image: Immigration lawyer, Monira Hussain
She told Sky News she does not know why decisions have slowed: “I can understand why the public would be outraged.”
“Ultimately what I would like to see the immigration system doing is processing their applications quicker, then we wouldn’t have this situation”, she added.
Some believe the rules need to be changed now the backlog of claims is so large.
Karl Williams, Deputy Research Director at the Centre for Policy Studies, said knowing they can get the right to work simply by waiting long enough makes Britain more attractive to migrants.
“There was perhaps a case for it when there were far fewer people in the asylum system. But at the moment it’s clearly acting as a massive pull factor for people coming here.”
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He believes for the British public, the fact that asylum seekers are working legitimately “will just enhance that fundamental sense that this is unfair”.
“These people are coming here illegally, they’re jumping the queue ahead of people who are using proper systems, and they are taking advantage of the taxpayer and the kindness and generosity of the public.”
The Home Office told Sky News: “The pressure on the asylum system has continued to grow, which is why we have taken immediate action to speed up application processing times and cut costs for taxpayers.
“Between the end of November 2022 and August 2023, the backlog of legacy cases has fallen by over 35,000.”
The government insists asylum seekers do not need to make perilous journeys in order to seek employment in the UK – and admits that Britain’s wider immigration policy could be undermined if migrants bypassed work visa rules by lodging unfounded asylum claims here.
Despite more and more asylum seekers legitimately making a living, it is still unlikely their uncertain status would satisfy the requirements for moving out of their hotel accommodation.
Whether the public likes it or not, a growing number of asylum seekers are now legally part of Britain’s workforce – but with no guarantee they will be allowed to continue their life here.
Marks & Spencer (M&S) has ordered hundreds of agency workers at its main distribution centre to stay at home as it grapples with the unfolding impact of a cyberattack on Britain’s best-known retailer.
Sky News has learnt that roughly 200 people who had been due to undertake shift work at M&S’s vast Castle Donington clothing and homewares logistics centre in the East Midlands have been told not to come in amid the escalating crisis.
Agency staff make up about 20% of Castle Donington’s workforce, according to a source close to M&S.
The retailer’s own employees who work at the site have been told to come in as usual, the source added.
“There is work for them to do,” they said.
M&S disclosed last week that it was suspending online orders as a result of the cyberattack, but has provided few other details about the nature and extent of the incident.
In its latest update to investors, the company said on Friday that its product range was “available to browse online, and our stores remain open and ready to welcome and serve customers”.
“We continue to manage the incident proactively and the M&S team – supported by leading experts – is working extremely hard to restore online operations and continue to serve customers well,” it added.
It was unclear on Monday how long the disruption to M&S’s e-commerce operations would last, although retail executives said the cyberattack was “extensive” and that it could take the company some time to fully resolve its impact.
Shares in M&S slid a further 2.4% on Monday morning, following a sharp fall last week, as investors reacted to the absence of positive news about the incident.
At that price, the company’s founder and chief executive, Will Shu, would be in line for a windfall of more than £170m.
Deliveroo further announced, before trading on Monday, that it had suspended its £100m share buyback programme.
The opening share price reaction took the value to 171p per share – still shy of the 180p on the table – and well under the 390p per share flotation price seen in 2021.
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Deliveroo’s shares have weakened nearly 50% since their market debut.
The deal is not expected to face regulatory hurdles as it provides DoorDash access to 10 new markets where it currently has no presence.
But a takeover would likely represent a blow to the City of London given the anticipated loss of a tech-focused player.
Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “If the deal is done at that price, the company will fail to shake off the ‘Floperoo’ tag it was saddled with after its disastrous IPO debut in 2021.
“Even though Deliveroo has finally broken through into profitable territory, the prolonged bout of indigestion around its share price has continued.
“The surge in demand for home deliveries during the pandemic waned just as competition heated up. Deliveroo’s foray into grocery deliveries has helped it turn a profit but it’s still facing fierce rivals.”
She added: “The DoorDash Deliveroo deal will be unappetising for the government which has been trying to boost the number of tech companies listed in London.
“If Deliveroo is purchased it would join a stream of companies leaving the London Stock Exchange, with too few IPOs [initial public offerings] in the pipeline to make up the numbers.”
A trade deal with the US is “possible” but not “certain”, a senior minister has said as he struck a cautious tone about negotiations with the White House.
Pat McFadden, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips there was “a serious level of engagement going on at high levels” to secure a UK-US trade deal.
However, Mr McFadden, a key ally of Sir Keir Starmer, struck a more cautious tone than Chancellor Rachel Reeves on the prospect of a US trade deal, saying: “I think an agreement is possible – I don’t think it’s certain, and I don’t want to say it’s certain, but I think it’s possible.”
He went on to say the government wanted an “agreement in the UK’s interests” and not a “hasty deal”, amid fears from critics that Number 10 could acquiesce a deal that lowers food standards, for example, or changes certain taxes in a bid to persuade Donald Trump to lower some of the tariffs that have been placed on British goods.
And asked about the timing of the deal – following recent reports an agreement was imminent – Mr McFadden said: “We’ll keep working with the United States and keep trying to get to an agreement in the coming weeks.”
As well as talks with the US, the UK has also ramped up its efforts with the EU, with suggestions it could include a new EU youth mobility scheme that would allow under-30s from the bloc to live, work and study in the UK and vice versa.
Mr McFadden said he believed the government could “improve upon” the Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson, saying it had caused “an awful lot of bureaucracy and costs here in the UK”.
He said “first and foremost” on the government’s agenda was securing a food and agriculture and a veterinary agreement, saying it was “such an important area for the UK and an area where we’ve had so much extra cost and bureaucracy because of Brexit”.
He added: “But again, as with the United States, there’s no point in calling the game before it’s done. We’ve still got work to do, and we’re doing that work with our partners in the EU.”
The Cabinet Office minister also rejected suggestions the UK would have to choose between pursuing a trade deal with the US and one with the EU – the latter of which has banned chlorinated chicken in its markets – as has the UK – but which the US has historically wanted.
On the issue of chlorinated chicken, Mr McFadden said the government had “made clear we will not water down animal welfare standards with either party”.
“But I don’t agree that it’s some fundamental choice beyond where we have to pick one trading partner rather than another. I think that’s to misunderstand the nature of the UK economy, and I don’t think would be in our interests to put all our eggs in one basket.”
Also speaking to Trevor Phillips was Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who said the government should be close to closing the deal with the US “because we got very close last time President Trump was in office”.
She also insisted food standards should not be watered down in order to get a deal, saying she did not reach an agreement with Canada when she was in government for that reason.
“What Labour needs to do now is show that they can get a deal that isn’t making concessions, so we can have what we had last month before the trade tariffs, and we need serious people doing this,” she said.