LONDON: Britain plans to strip accommodation and financial support from asylum seekers who work illegally, break the law or can support themselves, under measures it said on Wednesday would reduce incentives for people to enter the country unlawfully.
The changes mark the latest attempt by prime minister Keir Starmer’s government to tighten asylum policy as it comes under pressure in opinion polls from Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration populist party Reform UK.
The new measures by interior minister Shabana Mahmood draw on Denmark’s approach and form part of a wider overhaul that includes closing asylum hotels, tightening removals and creating a one-stop appeals system.
“Asylum support and accommodation will now become conditional – reserved only for those who play by our rules,” Mahmood said in a statement, ahead of a speech she is due to give on Thursday.
The measures come a day after Britain imposed an “emergency brake” on some study and work visas to curb what it described as a surge in asylum claims from people entering through legal routes.
Conditional system to replace legal duty
Britain’s longstanding legal duty to provide support and accommodation to asylum seekers would be scrapped and replaced with a conditional system, limiting help to people who follow the rules and have no means of supporting themselves, the interior ministry said.
Support could be withdrawn from those found to be working illegally, refusing removal, committing criminal offences, or having the financial ability or legal right to work.
The measures, which need parliamentary approval, would take effect in June and form part of the wider package the government said would tighten control of the border while maintaining protection for people fleeing conflict and persecution.
The interior ministry put annual spending on asylum support at 4 billion pounds and said 107,003 people were receiving support as of December, including 30,657 housed in around 200 hotels.
