Reform UK leader Richard Tice has criticised the UK Home Office for its “utter incompetence” in handling the country’s record backlog of asylum seekers and has called for the establishment of a new “Department of Immigration.”
Tice’s suggestion for the new department to take control of the escalating migrant crisis comes after recent unrest outside a hotel in Knowsley, Merseyside, where asylum-seekers were being housed.
According to Home Office figures, the asylum backlog has climbed to over 160,000, the highest figure since comparable records began.
Albanian nationals represent the most common nationality of asylum seekers in the backlog, with over 14,000 applications made in 2022, followed by Afghans.
Tice’s proposal for a new department to handle the asylum backlog and migrant crisis has been met with criticism from the Home Office.
A spokesperson for the Home Office stated that their ‘priority is to stop illegal immigration and ensure swift detention and removal of those who come here illegally.’
‘The Home Office is also working to speed up the asylum processing and recruitment of more caseworkers to handle the backlog.’
