Patel promises a ‘overhaul’ of UK’s ‘broken’ asylum system

Home Secretary Priti Patel says she will carry out the “biggest reform” of the UK’s asylum system in “decades”.

Patel told the Conservative Party conference that the system was “fundamentally broken” and promised one that was “firm and fair.”

The system will include speeding up the removal of those “who are not entitled to protection,” he said.

It comes after it emerged this week that the UK considered sending asylum seekers to an island in the Atlantic.

Ms Patel said she would introduce legislation next year to change the system, but said it would “take time” and that in the meantime it would “speed up the UK’s operational response” to the problem.

Labor shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said Ms Patel’s comments were “further proof of the Conservatives’ lack of compassion and competence.”

Before his speech at the conference, he said: “The British people will see through the Home Secretary’s brazen comments about a ‘broken system’, when the system has been overseen by the Conservatives for a decade.”

Ms. Patel pledged to introduce a new asylum system that welcomed people through “safe and legal routes” and detained illegal arrivals “making endless legal claims to stay.”

He added: “After decades of inaction by successive governments, we will address the moral, legal and practical problems of this broken system. Because what exists now is neither firm nor fair.”

The interior secretary said she would introduce legislation to fulfill her commitment, in what she said would amount to “the biggest reform of our asylum system in decades.”

The promised reform follows a record number of people who made the journey across the English Channel to the UK in September, which Ms Patel promised to stop.

According to Refugee Action, 35,566 asylum applications were made in the UK in 2019, down from the peak of 84,000 in 2002.

At the same time, delays in processing UK asylum applications have increased significantly.

Four out of five applicants in the last three months of 2019 waited six months or more for their cases to be processed.

Ms Patel said the UK would make more “immediate returns” of people who arrived illegally “and would violate our rules, every week”.

It comes after it emerged this week that the government had considered building an asylum processing center in a remote UK territory in the Atlantic Ocean.

Patel asked officials to examine asylum policies that had been successful in other countries, they told the BBC.

Labor said the “ridiculous idea” was “inhumane, completely impractical and outrageously expensive.”

During her speech, the Interior Secretary said the government “will explore all practical measures and options to deter illegal immigration.”

He added: “A reformed system will prosecute criminals and protect the vulnerable. This is how a strong and fair system should be.”

‘Rebuild better’

Meanwhile, Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has written to his Cabinet colleagues calling for “bold and ambitious” bills for the next Queen’s Speech, Downing Street said.

Number 10 said he wanted to look “beyond” the Covid-19 pandemic and said the prime minister “will not deviate” from honoring his manifesto commitments.

In his letter, Rees-Mogg said it would be “important to be prepared to make the most of the opportunities” after the transition period with the European Union ends on December 31.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s priorities include tackling crime, controlling UK borders, investing in infrastructure and strengthening public services, Rees-Mogg said.

A spokesman for No. 10 said: “The prime minister has made it clear that we will not deviate from our plans to rebuild better and that is exactly what our next Queen speech will do.”