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Almost all small boat arrivals who claimed asylum in the UK over the last year are still waiting for a decision from the Home Office, figures show.

In the year ending June 2024, the Home Office said 99% of all the people arriving in small boats had an asylum claim recorded either as a main applicant or as a dependant.

However, the figures show that 96% of asylum applications made by people arriving in small boats in that period are undecided.

Politics latest: Sunak ‘will regret early election’ after migration stats

In addition, 31% of small boat arrivals since 2018 – or 33,224 people – are still waiting for an asylum decision.

Immigration minister Seema Malhotra said the figures show the “chaos the Tories left in our immigration and asylum system”.

Tories blamed for asylum backlog

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In a statement, Ms Malhotra said: “Despite the hundreds of millions pumped into the Rwanda partnership, small boat crossings for the first half of this year went up by almost 20%.

“The asylum backlog has soared, costing the taxpayer billions. And the removal of foreign national offenders has dropped 20% since 2010.

“After 14 years, their record is one of failure and damaged public confidence.”

Home Office data from January to June this year showed the number of small boat arrivals was 18% higher than the same period in 2023, before starting to lower.

Ms Malhotra said the Labour government “will be different” and touted the government’s Border Security Command as well as its new returns programme.

“We can’t solve these problems overnight,” she added, “but we have already started work to deliver an immigration and asylum system that is controlled, managed, and works for Britain.”

It comes as the former head of the UK’s Border Force Tony Smith said Labour’s plan to increase detention capacity is unlikely to stop small boat crossings and the “only real solution” is a deal with the EU.

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Immigration centres to re-open

Home Office says crossings dropped

The Home Office also released data showing that in the 12 months to June 2024, 31,493 people arrived by small boats, 29% fewer than the 44,460 who made crossings by June 2023.

They found the number of “irregular arrivals” also fell in the same period: 38,784 people were detected by June this year – a 26% drop from 2023.

Sky News calculates small boat crossings differently, using the cumulative total of people detected crossing the English Channel in small boats by year.

Based on Sky News analysis of Home Office and PA figures from the start of the year to 21 August, the number of small boat crossings has actually risen.

The UK has seen 19,294 crossings as of Wednesday, whereas 18,618 crossings were recorded by 21 August 2023, making for an increase of 676.

Nonetheless, shadow home secretary and former minister James Cleverly credited a drop in crossings to the previous Conservative government.

He said on social media: “When I said I was going to cut migration, I meant it. Visas down, small boat arrivals down, cut the backlog & cut the asylum grant rate.

“It’s not about words, it’s about delivery.”

Read more:
Immigration detention centres to re-open in removals push
Plan unlikely to stop small boats, former border chief says

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Drop in health and care visas

Legal migration also fell in the year ending in June 2024: The Home Office reported there were 286,382 visas granted to main applicants in all work categories, 11% less than in the year before.

The biggest drop was seen in Health and Care Worker visas, where 89,095 were granted for a 26% drop compared to the year up to June 2024.

Fewer sponsored study visas were also granted – at 432,225, making for 13% less than the year ending June 2023 – while 3% more temporary worker visas were approved.

Mr Cleverly claimed in an interview that under the previous government, the UK had seen several people arriving on Health and Care Worker visas that “didn’t stay in the sector”.

“It was being used as a backdoor to our immigration system: that is wrong,” he said.

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UK on ‘slippery slope’ to ‘death on demand’, Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warns ahead of assisted dying vote

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UK on 'slippery slope' to 'death on demand', Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood warns ahead of assisted dying vote

The UK is on a “slippery slope towards death on demand”, according to the justice secretary ahead of a historic Commons vote on assisted dying.

In a letter to her constituents, Shabana Mahmood said she was “profoundly concerned” about the legislation.

“Sadly, recent scandals – such as Hillsborough, infected blood and the Post Office Horizon – have reminded us that the state and those acting on its behalf are not always benign,” she wrote.

“I have always held the view that, for this reason, the state should serve a clear role. It should protect and preserve life, not take it away.

“The state should never offer death as a service.”

Analysis: Justice secretary’s intervention is potentially embarrassing for the PM

On 29 November, MPs will be asked to consider whether to legalise assisted dying, through Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill.

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Minister ‘leans’ to assisted dying bill

Details of the legislation were published last week, including confirmation the medicine that will end a patient’s life will need to be self-administered and people must be terminally ill and expected to die within six months.

Ms Mahmood, however, said “predictions about life expectancy are often inaccurate”.

“Doctors can only predict a date of death, with any real certainty, in the final days of life,” she said. “The judgment as to who can and cannot be considered for assisted suicide will therefore be subjective and imprecise.”

Read more: Gordon Brown says assisted dying should not be legalised

Under the Labour MP’s proposals, two independent doctors must confirm a patient is eligible for assisted dying and a High Court judge must give their approval.

The bill will also include punishments of up to 14 years in prison for those who break the law, including coercing someone into ending their own life.

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Details of end of life bill released

Read more: Where does the cabinet stand on assisted dying?

However, Ms Mahmood said she was concerned the legislation could “pressure” some into ending their lives.

“It cannot be overstated what a profound shift in our culture assisted suicide will herald,” she wrote.

“In my view, the greatest risk of all is the pressure the elderly, vulnerable, sick or disabled may place upon themselves.”

Kim Leadbeater waits to present the Assisted Dying Bill. File pic: House of Commons/Reuters
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Kim Leadbeater waits to present the Assisted Dying Bill. File pic: House of Commons/Reuters

Labour MP Kim Leadbeater, who put forward the bill, said some of the points Ms Mahmood raised have been answered “in the the thorough drafting and presentation of the bill”.

“The strict eligibility criteria make it very clear that we are only talking about people who are already dying,” she said.

“That is why the bill is called the ‘Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill’; its scope cannot be changed and clearly does not include any other group of people.

“The bill would give dying people the autonomy, dignity and choice to shorten their death if they wish.”

In response to concerns Ms Mahmood raised about patients being coerced into choosing assisted death, Ms Leadbeater said she has consulted widely with doctors and judges.

“Those I have spoken to tell me that they are well equipped to ask the right questions to detect coercion and to ascertain a person’s genuine wishes. It is an integral part of their work,” she said.

In an increasingly fractious debate around the topic, multiple Labour MPs have voiced their concerns.

In a letter to ministers on 3 October, the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case confirmed “the Prime Minister has decided to set aside collective responsibility on the merits of this bill” and that the government would “therefore remain neutral on the passage of the Bill and on the matter of assisted dying”.

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‘Immediate action’ taken after blueprints of prisons in England and Wales leaked on dark web

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'Immediate action' taken after blueprints of prisons in England and Wales leaked on dark web

“Immediate action” is being taken after blueprints of jail layouts were shared online.

The maps detailing the layouts of prisons in England and Wales were leaked on the dark web over the past fortnight, according to The Times.

The detailed information is said to include the locations of cameras and sensors, prompting fears they could be used to smuggle drugs or weapons into prisons or help inmates plan escapes.

Security officials are now working to identify the source of the leak and who might benefit from the details.

The Ministry of Justice did not disclose which prisons were involved in the breach.

A government spokesperson said in a statement: “We are not going to comment on the specific detail of security matters of this kind, but we are aware of a breach of data to the prison estate and, like with all potential breaches, have taken immediate action to ensure prisons remain secure.”

The leak comes amid a chronic prison overcrowding crisis, which has led to early release schemes and the re-categorising of the security risks of some offenders to ease capacity pressures.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is launching a sentencing review in a bid to ease the crisis.

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Starmer says UK will ‘set out a path’ to raise defence spending to 2.5% in spring

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Starmer says UK will 'set out a path' to raise defence spending to 2.5% in spring

The UK will “set out a path” to lift defence spending to 2.5% of national income in the spring, the prime minister has said, finally offering a timeframe for an announcement on the long-awaited hike after mounting criticism.

Sir Keir Starmer gave the date during a phone call with Mark Rutte, the secretary general of NATO, in the wake of threats by Moscow to target UK and US military facilities following a decision by London and Washington to let Ukraine fire their missiles inside Russia.

There was no clarity though on when the 2.5% level will be achieved. The UK says it currently spends around 2.3% of GDP on defence.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte and  Keir Starmer, during a trilateral meeting in 10 Downing Street.
Pic: PA
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Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Sir Keir Starmer and NATO boss Mark Rutte in October. Pic: PA

Ukraine war latest: Follow live updates

A spokeswoman for Downing Street said that the two men “began by discussing the situation in Ukraine and reiterated the importance of putting the country in the strongest possible position going into the winter”.

They also talked about the deployment of thousands of North Korean soldiers to fight alongside Russia.

“The prime minister underscored the need for all NATO countries to step up in support of our collective defence and updated on the government’s progress on the strategic defence review,” the spokeswoman said.

“His government would set out the path to 2.5% in the spring.”

The defence review will also be published in the spring.

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While a date for an announcement on 2.5% will be welcomed by the Ministry of Defence, analysts have long warned that such an increase is still well below the amount that is needed to rebuild the armed forces after decades of decline to meet growing global threats from Russia, an increasingly assertive China, North Korea and Iran.

They say the UK needs to be aiming to hit at least 3% – probably higher.

With Donald Trump returning to the White House, there will be significantly more pressure on the UK and other European NATO allies to accelerate increases in defence spending.

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