IMMIGRATION - THE BACKLOG

The issue of immigration is one of the most difficult political issues across the world. Despite the appalling language used by the Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, the UK only receives a modest number of asylum applications in comparison with other European countries. In 2021 we had 50,000 applications whilst France had over 100,000 and Germany over 150,000. When you look at applications per 100,000 population we have 80 per 100,000 - behind most European countries with Austria at over 400 and Belgium at over 150. Recent reports in the press about a 'fast track processing system' and 'amnesty' are driven not by increasing numbers of applicants but Government failures since Boris's 'oven ready deal' that was enacted in 2020. We have a backlog of applications, over 120,000 up from 30,000 in 2019. This is because we are taking 15.5 months to process an application, whereas Germany takes 6.5 months and France 8.5 months. The Government blames the ECHR but this applies in Germany and France so clearly is just a