Home Secretary James Cleverly Tested On ‘Misleading’ Claim To Have Cleared Asylum Backlog
Home Secretary James Cleverly sought to stand by the government on Tuesday after his department conceded that 4,500 cases remain unresolved, despite Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s claim to have eradicated the backlog.
The Home Office said on Monday that the Sunak’s “commitment of clearing the legacy asylum backlog has been delivered.”
In an interview Tuesday with BBC Breakfast’s journalist Jon Kay, Cleverly said: “We looked at all 92,000 of those cases, the vast majority of them were adjudicated upon and the small number — about 4,500 — either had discrepancies or age disputes or potentially security concerns are still being addressed. However, we have dealt with, in one way or another, every single one of those 92,000 claims.”
Kay, returning to the claim that backlog had been cleared, with the number of cases outstanding, said:” You might have looked at all the cases, but if 4,500 are unresolved, you haven’t really cleared the backlog, have you?”
Clearing his throat, Cleverly stood by his department’s claim: Yes we have because the backlog referred to cases that hadn’t been looked at…”
“I think most people would say that clearing the backlog is dealing with them, not just looking at them,” Kay pressed.
Repeating the same press line Cleverly added that all the while the Home Office were still processing the applications that have come in since.
Labour, however, challenges this triumphant narrative, branding the Government’s claim as “false”, and casting doubt on the purported success in handling the backlog crisis. Labour officials have raised alarms over unmet targets, as a general election looms and the Conservative Party seeks to demonstrate the delivery of its promises.
Shadow Immigration Minister Stephen Kinnock criticised the government for allegedly withdrawing 17,000 asylum claims and failing to account for over 4,000 unresolved cases. He also highlighted the Tories’ inability to track these individuals, suggesting they might be slipping into the underground economy or reapplying for asylum.
The government also faces pressure from the right, as Brexiteer and GB News host Nigel Farage weighed in to dismiss Sunak’s claim.
The Refugee Council’s Chief Executive, Enver Solomon, called the government’s claim of clearing the backlog “misleading.” He argued that the government’s approach treated asylum seekers as mere statistics, lacking in care and compassion.
