The Government will introduce a new fast-track asylum appeals process to speed up removals of people with no right to remain in the UK, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has announced. The move comes as nationwide protests about asylum hotel accommodation continue across Britain.
About 51,000 asylum appeals are currently waiting to be heard, taking on average more than a year to reach a decision. Court delays over appeals are now considered the biggest cause of pressure in the asylum accommodation system.
New appeals system
The Government plans to establish an independent panel focused on asylum appeals using professionally-trained adjudicators rather than judges. Ministers are introducing a 24-week deadline for first-tier tribunals to determine asylum appeals by those receiving accommodation support and appeals by foreign offenders.
The new system will draw on lessons from other European countries with faster appeals processes. Cooper said the overhaul would create a system which is "swift, fair and independent, with high standards in place".
Cooper said: "We inherited an asylum system in complete chaos with a soaring backlog of asylum cases and a broken appeals system with thousands of people in the system for years on end. We are determined to substantially reduce the number of people in the asylum system as part of our plan to end asylum hotels."
Protest incidents
Protests by groups opposed to asylum hotels and counter-demonstrations took place across the UK on Saturday. In Bristol, mounted police separated rival groups in Castle Park, with officers scuffling with protesters and a 37-year-old woman arrested for assaulting an emergency worker.
Liverpool saw 11 arrests for offences including drunk and disorderly, assault and affray during a UK Independence Party protest met by counter-demonstrations. In Horley, Surrey, about 200 anti-immigration protesters clashed with roughly 50 Stand Up to Racism protesters, resulting in three arrests.
Legal challenges
The High Court granted Epping Forest District Council a temporary injunction to remove asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, from September 12. Regular protests had been held outside the hotel after an asylum seeker was charged with trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl, which he denies.
The Government announced plans to appeal against the High Court's refusal to allow it to intervene and to further appeal against the temporary injunction. Other councils have publicly announced their intention to seek legal advice about achieving similar injunctions for hotels in their areas.
Political pressure
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has outlined plans for mass deportations if he becomes Prime Minister, including five charter flights taking off from the UK daily. The proposals include arresting asylum seekers on arrival, automatic detention and forced deportation to countries such as Afghanistan and Eritrea.
Farage said the plans could see hundreds of thousands of people deported. The first step would involve leaving the European Convention on Human Rights and scrapping the Human Rights Act, followed by legislation barring those arriving on small boats from claiming asylum.
Official figures show 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number since current records began in 2001. There were 32,059 asylum seekers in UK hotels by the end of June, with Labour promising to end their use by 2029.
Sources used: "PA Media", "Manchester Evening News", "Belfast Live", "The Independent", "BBC", "The Guardian", "Daily Mail", "Evening Standard", "Northern Echo", "Channel 4", "GB News"
Note: This article has been edited with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
