Asylum seekers to be given more money to fight claims under Labour plans Because Of This Reasons

The UK government is planning to significantly increase spending on legal aid for immigrants, particularly those seeking asylum, by nearly a third. This decision comes at a time when there is growing public frustration over several controversial rulings related to immigration and asylum cases. Legal aid refers to the payments made to lawyers who represent individuals, including illegal migrants, in their efforts to remain in the UK.

Under the proposed changes, legal fees would rise by at least 10%, with officials arguing that this increase is necessary to help address the backlog of over 100,000 asylum cases. This backlog has been a persistent issue, and the government believes that higher fees will encourage more lawyers to take on these cases, thereby speeding up the process.

The move follows a series of contentious immigration rulings that have sparked debate. For example, in one case, a judge allowed an Albanian criminal to stay in the UK partly because his son did not like the taste of foreign chicken nuggets. In another instance, a Nigerian woman, who had been denied asylum eight times, was eventually granted the right to remain in the UK after joining a terrorist organization. These decisions have raised questions about the effectiveness of immigration tribunals and the UK’s continued involvement with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

Critics have accused Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, of promoting a system of “rule by lawyers,” particularly in light of recent actions by the Attorney General, Lord Hermer. Against this backdrop, the Ministry of Justice has proposed a substantial increase in legal aid fees for immigration cases. This would raise the annual cost to taxpayers from £47 million to £61 million, an increase of £14 million, or 30%.

This would be the first increase in legal aid fees since they were set in 2006, and those rates were themselves based on hourly rates established in 1996. The government also plans to increase fees for housing appeals by the same amount and intends to do the same for criminal cases in the future.

Sarah Sackman, the justice minister, described the increase as a “crucial step” toward rebuilding the legal aid sector, which she said has been neglected for years. She emphasized that the changes are part of a broader plan to ensure the sustainability of legal aid and to provide quicker access to justice for those who need it most. In a statement, she highlighted that the increased fees would help ensure that vulnerable individuals, including asylum seekers, victims of modern slavery, trafficking, and domestic abuse, have access to quality legal advice when they need it.

Legal aid for migrants is primarily available to asylum seekers and covers cases related to detention, deportation, and accommodation claims. It also applies to cases involving migrant victims of domestic violence and modern slavery.

However, not everyone supports the increase. Rupert Lowe, a Reform MP, argued that British taxpayers should not be funding the legal efforts of migrants trying to remain in the UK. He called for a fundamental rethink of all immigration-related spending, including costs associated with deportation appeals and services for illegal migrants. Lowe suggested that if current laws prevent the government from acting in the best interests of the British people, then those laws should be changed.

Officials have pointed out that the low fees currently offered for representing migrants have led to a shortage of legal firms willing to take on these cases. In a consultation document, they warned that without higher fees, there may not be enough lawyers to handle the expected increase in appeals resulting from government policies aimed at reducing the asylum backlog, ending the use of hotels for housing asylum seekers, and increasing deportations. They stressed that the legal aid sector currently lacks the capacity to meet this growing demand.