‘Collapsed’ system leaves 140,000 awaiting asylum

The number of applicants awaiting asylum has reached more than 140,000, new figures show, as Labour said the decision-making system had “collapsed”. Applications have reached their highest level on record – rising by over 20,000 in the past three months alone – and are three times higher than the same point in 2019. Amid mounting pressure on hotels and processing centres, critics have said the Home Office needs an “urgent overhaul”. The vast majority of small boat migrants have not had their claims considered, indeed some have been waiting since 2018 for a decision. Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said: “They have no proper grip or control, they just ramp up the rhetoric instead of putting sensible policies in place.”