Clearing asylum backlog ‘created another crisis’ as refugees left homeless, charities say
Hassan came to the UK on a boat across the English Channel. Now he is sleeping rough on a Liverpool housing estate.
“Where should I go? What should I do?” he asks me, as he clears out his rain-soaked tent, which he’s pitched under some trees near to a row of semi-detached houses.
A sleeping bag he’s had since he left Calais, the last stop until Britain for more than 30,000 migrants this year, is ringing wet.
“This country is no good for asylum,” he says trying to pack his things into plastic bags.
“When you have a problem, you wait a long time for nothing.”
Hassan fled Iraq last year and travelled through Europe to reach Britain.
But his hopes of a new life have long faded.
“I have no money. No anything,” he says.
Nick Martin speaking to Hassan, who has had his asylum application denied
His asylum application was rejected on a technicality, but he is able to reapply. With no phone and no address however, it seems impossible.
A local resident spots us filming and walks quickly towards us, and we witness first hand why immigration is set to become a key issue in the next general election.
“This isn’t happening,” the resident says pointing at the tent angrily.
“We don’t want this around here. You’ve got all the neighbours worried. Imagine this is your house and your kids are playing in the garden, and you’ve got him camping here.
“You better get it moved tonight,” he shouts.
His anger is understandable. Hassan doesn’t want to be here.
But as the government has openly admitted, the asylum system in Britain is broken. This depressing scene on a housing estate brings that into clear focus.
We’ve come to Liverpool because the council here is pleading for the government to step in and help.
Read more:
Huge rise in refugees sleeping rough after Home Office cuts notice period
Selma, a refugee who’s come here from Sudan on a family reunion visa and is now homeless
Liverpool City Council says it is dealing with an “unprecedented homelessness problem” and says a big part of that is a sudden influx of asylum seekers.
They blame the government’s move to accelerate the processing of asylum claims to clear the backlog by the end of the year.
When people are given refugee status, they are no longer eligible for asylum seeker accommodation – but there is nowhere to go.
Around £6m a year has been spent housing asylum seekers in hotels and hostels while claims are processed.
And earlier this month, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the government had reduced the backlog from 92,000 to 20,000.
Now cities like Liverpool say that has put them under “enormous pressure” as requests for housing are on the rise at a time when housing stock is already at a premium.
The city council told Sky News that it currently spends around £11m per year on asylum seekers and refugees in the region.
Nationally, there are 1.2 million people waiting for social housing, according to the charity Shelter.
Ewan Roberts, from Asylum Link, an organisation set up to offer help and advice to asylum seekers, says clearing the backlog has had negative knock-on effects.
Asylum Link Merseyside’s centre manager Ewan Roberts
“People are coming through the system so quickly now with leave to remain. They’re recognised as refugees, but there’s no accommodation for them.
“The government has pushed the burden on to somebody else.
“Whether that’s the voluntary sector or local authorities or other statutory homelessness services.
“They might have solved one problem, but they’ve created another.”
Read more:
Glasgow City council declares ‘housing emergency’ due to homelessness
Alfadal, 31, who is homeless and sleeps with his wife at a train station
Alfadal, 31, has lived in the UK for four years. His 21-year-old wife Selma has recently been allowed to join him here under a family reunion visa.
But they are homeless because he claims the council say they are not a priority.
“I went to the train station. I sleep there,” he said.
“I don’t have any place to take my wife. I’m afraid for her.”
Government and Labour wrestle with asylum
Immigration is shaping up to be one of the key issues ahead of the general election and the government’s handling of the issue will be seen as critical.
Labour is facing the dilemma of being seen as tough enough by former red wall seats but also compassionate by the other wing of its supporters.
So far, Sir Keir Starmer has committed to lowering migration but has not given any specific target.
It has been a turbulent few weeks for the Conservative Party. The Supreme Court ruling that plans to send migrants to Rwanda were illegal was a major setback.
But in response, the prime minister published emergency legislation that would declare Rwanda a safe country for asylum seekers and push through their controversial deportation policy.
Rishi Sunak has faced a row within the Tories over his Rwanda bill, with some calling for it to override the ECHR
A government spokesperson said: “We have always met our legal obligations by providing support and accommodation for asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.
“As the legacy backlog reduces, we continue to work with local authorities to manage the impact of asylum decisions and support is available on moving on from asylum support accommodation through Migrant Help and their partners.”
“Through our Rough Sleeping Strategy, we will continue to work not just to reduce rough sleeping but to end it completely. Some £2bn have been provided to councils to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping.”
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A group of refugees and asylum seekers waiting to get housing advice at Asylum Link Merseyside, Liverpool
A Liverpool City Council spokesperson said: “Liverpool, like many local authorities, has been placed under immense pressure by the government’s decision to shift the burden from central to local government without proper planning and consultation.
“As a result we have written to the government to ask for additional help and support as well as co-operation to phase the decisions to enable us to find sustainable solutions.
“We are committed to protecting the most vulnerable in our communities and have increased capacity in our frontline services to address these issues.
“Our current spend on asylum seekers and refugees is in the region of £11m per year.”
The dates for Donald Trump’s state visit to the UK have been announced, with the US president due to be welcomed by the King from 17 to 19 September.
Buckingham Palace also confirmed that President Trump and first lady Melania will be hosted by the King and Queen at Windsor Castle.
It was expected that the three-day state visit would take place in September after Mr Trump let slip earlier in April that he believed that was when his second “fest” was being planned for.
Windsor was also anticipated to be the location after the US president told reporters in the Oval Office that the letter from the King said Windsor would be the setting. Refurbishment works at Buckingham Palace also meant that Windsor was used last week for French President Emmanuel Macron’s visit.
This will be Mr Trump’s second state visit to the UK, an unprecedented gesture towards an American leader, having previously been invited to Buckingham Palace in 2019.
Donald Trump and Melania Trump posing with Charles and Camilla in 2019. Pic: Reuters
He has also been to Windsor Castle before, in 2018, but despite the considerable military pageantry of the day, and some confusion around inspecting the guard, it was simply for tea with Queen Elizabeth II.
Further details of what will happen during the three-day visit in September will be announced in due course.
On Friday, Sky News revealed it is now unlikely that the US president will address parliament, usually an honour given to visiting heads of state as part of their visit. Some MPs had raised significant concerns about him being given the privilege.
But the House of Commons will not be sitting at the time of Mr Trump’s visit as it will rise for party conference season on the 16 September, meaning the president will not be able to speak in parliament as President Macron did during his state visit this week. However, the House of Lords will be sitting.
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Labour MP: ‘Trump isn’t welcome here’
In February this year, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer presented the US president with the letter from the King inviting him to visit during a meeting at the White House.
After reading it, Mr Trump said it was a “great, great honour”, adding “and that says at Windsor – that’s really something”.
In February, Sir Keir Starmer revealed a letter from the King inviting Donald Trump to the UK. Pic: Reuters
In the letter, the King suggested they might meet at Balmoral or Dumfries House in Scotland first before the much grander state visit. However, it is understood that, although all options were explored, complexities in both the King and Mr Trump’s diaries meant it wasn’t possible.
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Is the UK ready for a ‘Trump-fest’?
Elton and Jagger at royal banquet
King and Trump won’t hold private meeting
This week, it emerged that Police Scotland are planning for a summer visit from the US president, which is likely to see him visit one or both of his golf clubs in Aberdeenshire and Ayrshire, and require substantial policing resources and probably units to be called in from elsewhere in the UK.
Precedent for second-term US presidents, who have already made a state visit, is usually tea or lunch with the monarch at Windsor Castle, as was the case for George W Bush and Barack Obama.
A small plane has crashed at Southend Airport in Essex.
Essex Police said it was at the scene of a “serious incident”.
Images posted online showed huge flames and a large cloud of black smoke, with one witness saying they saw a “fireball”.
A police statement said: “We were alerted shortly before 4pm to reports of a collision involving one 12-metre plane.
“We are working with all emergency services at the scene now and that work will be ongoing for several hours.
“We would please ask the public to avoid this area where possible while this work continues.”
A huge fireball near the airport. Pic: Ben G
It has been reported that the plane involved in the incident is a Beech B200 Super King Air.
According to flight-tracking service Flightradar, it took off at 3.48pm and was bound for Lelystad, a city in the Netherlands.
One man, who was at Southend Airport with his family around the time of the incident, said the aircraft “crashed headfirst into the ground”.
John Johnson said: “About three or four seconds after taking off, it started to bank heavily to its left, and then within a few seconds of that happening, it more or less inverted and crashed.
“There was a big fireball. Obviously, everybody was in shock in terms of witnessing it. All the kids saw it and the families saw it.”
Mr Johnson added that he phoned 999 to report the crash.
Southend Airport said the incident involved “a general aviation aircraft”.
Four flights scheduled to take off from Southend this afternoon were cancelled, according to its website.
Flightradar data shows two planes that had been due to land at Southend were diverted to nearby airports London Gatwick and London Stansted.
Plumes of black smoke. Pic: UKNIP
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service said four crews, along with off-road vehicles, have attended the scene.
Four ambulances and four hazardous area response team vehicles are also at the airport, as well as an air ambulance, the East of England Ambulance Service said.
Its statement described the incident as “still developing”.
Fire engines at the airport
David Burton-Sampson, the MP for Southend West and Leigh, posted on social media: “I am aware of an incident at Southend Airport. Please keep away and allow the emergency services to do their work.
“My thoughts are with everyone involved.”
Local councillor Matt Dent said on X: “At present all I know is that a small plane has crashed at the airport. My thoughts are with all those involved, and with the emergency services currently responding to the incident.”
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UK
Heidi Alexander says ‘fairness’ will be government’s ‘guiding principle’ when it comes to taxes at next budget
Another hint that tax rises are coming in this autumn’s budget has been given by a senior minister.
Speaking to Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander was asked if Sir Keir Starmer and the rest of the cabinet had discussed hiking taxes in the wake of the government’s failed welfare reforms, which were shot down by their own MPs.
Trevor Phillips asked specifically if tax rises were discussed among the cabinet last week – including on an away day on Friday.
Politics Hub: Catch up on the latest
Tax increases were not discussed “directly”, Ms Alexander said, but ministers were “cognisant” of the challenges facing them.
Asked what this means, Ms Alexander added: “I think your viewers would be surprised if we didn’t recognise that at the budget, the chancellor will need to look at the OBR forecast that is given to her and will make decisions in line with the fiscal rules that she has set out.
“We made a commitment in our manifesto not to be putting up taxes on people on modest incomes, working people. We have stuck to that.”
Ms Alexander said she wouldn’t comment directly on taxes and the budget at this point, adding: “So, the chancellor will set her budget. I’m not going to sit in a TV studio today and speculate on what the contents of that budget might be.
“When it comes to taxation, fairness is going to be our guiding principle.”
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Afterwards, shadow home secretary Chris Philp told Phillips: “That sounds to me like a barely disguised reference to tax rises coming in the autumn.”
He then went on to repeat the Conservative attack lines that Labour are “crashing the economy”.
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Chris Philp also criticsed the government’s migration deal with France
Mr Philp then attacked the prime minister as “weak” for being unable to get his welfare reforms through the Commons.
Discussions about potential tax rises have come to the fore after the government had to gut its welfare reforms.
Sir Keir had wanted to change Personal Independence Payments (PIP), but a large Labour rebellion forced him to axe the changes.
With the savings from these proposed changes – around £5bn – already worked into the government’s sums, they will now need to find the money somewhere else.
The general belief is that this will take the form of tax rises, rather than spending cuts, with more money needed for military spending commitments, as well as other areas of priority for the government, such as the NHS.
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