London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Monday, Jan 26, 2026

PMQs: Fact-checking claims about asylum and migrants

PMQs: Fact-checking claims about asylum and migrants

Delays in processing asylum claims and the cost of providing hotel accommodation for asylum-seekers were some of the issues debated at Prime Minister's Questions.

Labour leader Keir Starmer accused the prime minister of presiding over a "broken" asylum system, Rishi Sunak said Labour had "no plan" on how to deal with the thousands of migrants arriving in the UK in small boats.

We've had a look at some of the claims.

'Four per cent of people arriving in small boats last year had their asylum claim processed' - Keir Starmer


Keir Starmer asked the prime minister how many asylum claims from those who arrived in the UK on small boats last year had been processed.

Mr Sunak said: "not enough is the answer", but did not give a figure.

Mr Starmer went on to say that it was 4% of them, which is correct.

Speaking to the Home Affairs Committee last week, Home Office official Dan Hobbs said about small boat arrivals in 2021: "96% of those claims remain outstanding".

He added that of the 4% of claims which had been processed, around 85% were given asylum.

The latest backlog figures for the year to the end of June 2022, show 103,000 asylum applications awaiting a decision.


'We ended the free movement of people' - Rishi Sunak


Keir Starmer said to the prime minister: "His home secretary says the asylum system is broken - who broke it?"

Mr Sunak responded by talking about free movement.

"We gave the British people a referendum on Brexit, we delivered Brexit, we ended the free movement of people," he said.

But free movement and the asylum system are not the same thing.

Free movement is the European Union principle that all EU nationals are allowed to live and work in any EU country.

On 31 December 2020, this freedom ended for EU citizens coming to the UK (and for UK citizens going to the EU).

The asylum system is set of rules around how people fleeing persecution can try to get protection in the UK.


'Nearly 40,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel so far this year landing taxpayers with a hotel bill of £5.6m per day to accommodate them' - Scott Benton (Conservative)


We've heard the £5.6m figure before from Home Office official Abi Tierney, who appeared before a committee of MPs last week.

She said that the cost of hotel accommodation for asylum seekers was £5.6m a day, although that was the figure for all asylum seekers, not just for those who had arrived in small boats.

It's also not just for those who arrived this year and not all arrivals are being housed in hotels.

Ms Tierney said that on top of this figure, £1.2m per day is spent on hotel accommodation for people brought over from Afghanistan, bringing the bill to a total of £6.8m a day.

'We've increased the number of processing officials by 80%' - Rishi Sunak


The prime minister gave this figure for the increase in staff numbers when asked what the government was doing about speeding up the processing of asylum claims.

Ms Tierney told MPs last week that they had increased the number of asylum "decision makers" by 584 to 1,073, which is an increase of 119%, although neither she nor the prime minister gave a time period.

Reality Check asked the Home Office where the 80% figure came from and they confirmed that they had 597 staff in 2019-20, which had now increased to 1,073, which is indeed an 80% increase.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Air France and KLM Suspend Multiple Middle East Routes as Regional Tensions Disrupt Aviation
U.S. winter storm triggers 13,000-plus flight cancellations and 160,000 power outages
Poland delays euro adoption as Domański cites $1tn economy and zloty advantage
White House: Trump warns Canada of 100% tariff if Carney finalizes China trade deal
PLA opens CMC probe of Zhang Youxia, Liu Zhenli over Xi authority and discipline violations
ICE and DHS immigration raids in Minneapolis: the use-of-force accountability crisis in mass deportation enforcement
UK’s Starmer and Trump Agree on Urgent Need to Bolster Arctic Security
Starmer Breaks Diplomatic Restraint With Firm Rebuke of Trump, Seizing Chance to Advocate for Europe
UK Finance Minister Reeves to Join Starmer on China Visit to Bolster Trade and Economic Ties
Prince Harry Says Sacrifices of NATO Forces in Afghanistan Deserve ‘Respect’ After Trump Remarks
Barron Trump Emerges as Key Remote Witness in UK Assault and Rape Trial
Nigel Farage Attended Davos 2026 Using HP Trust Delegate Pass Linked to Sasan Ghandehari
Gold Jumps More Than 8% in a Week as the Dollar Slides Amid Greenland Tariff Dispute
BlackRock Executive Rick Rieder Emerges as Leading Contender to Succeed Jerome Powell as Fed Chair
Boston Dynamics Atlas humanoid robot and LG CLOiD home robot: the platform lock-in fight to control Physical AI
United States under President Donald Trump completes withdrawal from the World Health Organization: health sovereignty versus global outbreak early-warning access
FBI and U.S. prosecutors vs Ryan Wedding’s transnational cocaine-smuggling network: the fight over witness-killing and cross-border enforcement
Trump Administration’s Iran Military Buildup and Sanctions Campaign Puts Deterrence Credibility on the Line
Apple and OpenAI Chase Screenless AI Wearables as the Post-iPhone Interface Battle Heats Up
Tech Brief: AI Compute, Chips, and Platform Power Moves Driving Today’s Market Narrative
NATO’s Stress Test Under Trump: Alliance Credibility, Burden-Sharing, and the Fight Over Strategic Territory
OpenAI’s Money Problem: Explosive Growth, Even Faster Costs, and a Race to Stay Ahead
Trump Reverses Course and Criticises UK-Mauritius Chagos Islands Agreement
Elizabeth Hurley Tells UK Court of ‘Brutal’ Invasion of Privacy in Phone Hacking Case
UK Bond Yields Climb as Report Fuels Speculation Over Andy Burnham’s Return to Parliament
America’s Venezuela Oil Grip Meets China’s Demand: Market Power, Legal Shockwaves, and the New Rules of Energy Leverage
TikTok’s U.S. Escape Plan: National Security Firewall or Political Theater With a Price Tag?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
Trump’s Board of Peace: Breakthrough Diplomacy or a Hostile Takeover of Global Order?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
The Greenland Gambit: Economic Genius or Political Farce?
Will AI Finally Make Blue-Collar Workers Rich—or Is This Just Elite Tech Spin?
Prince William to Make Official Visit to Saudi Arabia in February
Prince Harry Breaks Down in London Court, Says UK Tabloids Have Made Meghan Markle’s Life ‘Absolute Misery’
Malin + Goetz UK Business Enters Administration, All Stores Close
EU and UK Reject Trump’s Greenland-Linked Tariff Threats and Pledge Unified Response
UK Deepfake Crackdown Puts Intense Pressure on Musk’s Grok AI After Surge in Non-Consensual Explicit Images
Prince Harry Becomes Emotional in London Court, Invokes Memory of Princess Diana in Testimony Against UK Tabloids
UK Inflation Rises Unexpectedly but Interest Rate Cuts Still Seen as Likely
AI vs Work: The Battle Over Who Controls the Future of Labor
Buying an Ally’s Territory: Strategic Genius or Geopolitical Breakdown?
AI Everywhere: Power, Money, War, and the Race to Control the Future
Trump vs the World Order: Disruption Genius or Global Arsonist?
Trump vs the World Order: Disruption Genius or Global Arsonist?
Trump vs the World Order: Disruption Genius or Global Arsonist?
Trump vs the World Order: Disruption Genius or Global Arsonist?
Arctic Power Grab: Security Chessboard or Climate Crime Scene?
Starmer Steps Back from Trump’s ‘Board of Peace’ Amid Strained US–UK Relations
Prince Harry’s Lawyer Tells UK Court Daily Mail Was Complicit in Unlawful Privacy Invasions
×