Yvette Cooper pledges to overhaul Britain’s asylum system

Addressing the Commons today, Yvette Cooper promised the government will overhaul the asylum system. This will include changing the way the appeals system works for asylum claims and the suspension of new family reunion applications. The Home Secretary’s remarks coincide with figures that show the overall number of successful applications for family reunion visas has surged by five times in the last three years.

Cooper also hinted that there may be changes to how the ECHR is interpreted. She suggested that Article 8 (the right to respect for private and family life, which has been used to help block deportations) may be interpreted differently. The Home Secretary claimed that promises of family reunion had encouraged dangerous routes into the UK, before noting that interpretations of international law must adapt to political realities.

The Home Secretary then turned to asylum hotels, a hot topic in recent weeks. Cooper told the Commons that the government remains committed to closing migrant hotels by 2029 but added this must be done in a ‘controlled and orderly manner’. The Home Secretary assured parliamentarians that Labour is looking for other ways to house those seeking asylum but, as has been noted before, politicians have not had much success with alternative methods. The Bibby Stockholm barge contract has not been renewed, while a non-statutory inquiry into the alleged mistreatment of asylum seekers at the ex-military Manston base remains ongoing. The government wants to move people into local housing – but there is a risk that this could inflame local tensions.

Cooper’s statement on parliament’s first day back from summer recess comes after Nigel Farage’s presser last week in which the Reform leader set out his party’s immigration policy: Reform will remove 600,000 illegal migrants from the UK if the party wins the next general election. Meanwhile, they would take the UK out of the ECHR and instead introduce a British Bill of Rights. It was a full-throated statement of intent made while polling shows that immigration remains the top priority for Brits. 

So far, the government has been keen to show rather than tell when it comes to progress (Cooper said today that the government has so far saved almost £1 billion on asylum accommodation costs). This strategy has inadvertently allowed Reform, with its headline-grabbing announcements, to appear like it is setting the agenda. But perhaps now, with the reshuffling of Keir Starmer’s No. 10 team, this will all change.