Priti Patel to launch biggest overhaul of ‘fundamentally broken’ asylum system in decades

Priti Patel will today announce the biggest overhaul of the asylum system in decades amid failures to prevent 5,330 Channel crossings since April.

The Home Secretary will declare the system ‘fundamentally broken’ and will pledge to bring forward legislation to introduce a ‘firm and fair’ alternative.

The so-called ‘fair borders Bill’ is due to be introduced in the new year, after the Brexit transition period has ended. It is expected to speed up the application process by making arrivals give all their grounds for refugee status when they apply, instead of being able to submit new reasons later.

‘Fair and compassionate towards those who need our help. Fair by welcoming people through safe and legal routes,’ Mrs Patel is expected to tell the Conservative Party virtual conference.

‘But firm because we will stop the abuse of the broken system. Firm, because we will stop those who come here illegally making endless legal claims to remain. And firm, because we will expedite the removal of those who have no claim for protection.’

The Minister will decry asylum seekers who ‘shop around’ for places to settle and come to the UK ‘illegally via small boat, having passed through numerous safe countries’.

The cost to the taxpayer of processing asylum claims has spiralled to more than £1 billion a year, Mrs Patel will say, adding that nearly half of claims take a year or more to reach a decision.

Last night the Home Office said examples include a youngster who came to the UK legally, then claimed asylum as it wasn’t safe to go home, leaving them ‘stuck languishing in the broken system’.

Mrs Patel will also pledge to ‘accelerate’ the Government’s operational response to illegal migration and ‘hunt down’ human trafficking gangs.

Only 76 migrants have been deported from the UK since April, according to the Home Office.

Last week it emerged the Government considered processing asylum claims on remote islands in the South Atlantic including Ascension and St Helena, where Napoleon was exiled.

Mrs Patel is expected to say: ‘We will make more immediate returns of those who come here illegally and break our rules, every single week.’

She will add: ‘A fair asylum system should provide safe haven to those fleeing persecution, oppression or tyranny. But, ours doesn’t. Because our asylum system is fundamentally broken.’