Sir Keir Starmer condemns 'inhuman' asylum ferries idea

Proposals to process asylum seekers in disused ferries are "inhuman", Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said.

He accused the government of "lurching from one ridiculous proposition to the next".

According to Refugee Action, 35,566 asylum applications were made in 2019 down from a peak of 84,000 in 2002.

Top Home Office civil servant Matthew Rycroft said "everything is on the table" when it comes to "improving" the UK's asylum system.

And Downing Street said it was looking at what other countries do "to inform a plan for the UK".

But the Labour leader fiercely criticised the plan, telling reporters: "This isn't creative thinking... these suggestions are inhuman and the government shouldn't be pursuing them.

"Everybody knows that the biggest problem with asylum seekers' claims is that it takes a long time for the Home Office to process them, that's the problem, it's been there for years.

"Get your house in order, get that sorted out instead of lurching from one ridiculous proposition to another."

He called for better international cooperation, adding: "There is of course an issue with people trying to get to the United Kingdom, but people are fleeing often from persecution."

'Brainstorming ideas'

Home Secretary Priti Patel asked officials to look at policies, including housing people who are seeking asylum offshore.

On Tuesday, the Financial Times reported the Foreign Office had carried out an assessment for Ascension Island, a remote UK territory in the Atlantic Ocean - which included the practicalities of transferring migrants thousands of miles - and decided not to proceed.

Now the Times has reported that the government is giving "serious consideration" to the idea of buying retired ferries and converting them into processing centres, but it says the Home Office rejected a proposal to use decommissioned oil platforms in the North Sea.

The newspaper also says processing migrants on an island off the coast of Scotland had been considered, but First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted that "any proposal to treat human beings like cattle in a holding pen will be met with the strongest possible opposition from me".

Appearing before the Public Affairs Committee, Home Office Permanent Secretary Mr Rycroft said he would not comment on leaks to newspapers, but that the department was "brainstorming" ideas.

He said: "No decisions have been taken. No final proposals have been put to ministers."

Mr Rycroft said the UK would "always comply with all of our international obligations" and civil servants would "assess all of the various different possible ideas out there to see which are legal and which make operational sense… so that ministers can ultimately make decisions".