No 10 Insists Rishi Sunak Is Being "Transparent" About Asylum Backlog Numbers

Rishi Sunak is being "transparent" about the government's progress in reducing the asylum backlog, his spokesperson has insisted, following accusations that ministers are being misleading about the number of cases dealt with by the Home Office.

On Tuesday morning, the Prime Minister posted on social media that his government had successfully cleared the backlog of asylum claims awaiting decisions from Home Office officials. "I said that this government would clear the backlog of asylum decisions by the end of 2023. That’s exactly what we’ve done," his account tweeted.

However, the Home Office has confirmed that Sunak was referring to asylum claims made before the end of June 2022, or what the government refers to as "legacy" cases, and that the overall number of cases waiting to be dealt with stands at over 98,000.

The department, led by Home Secretary James Cleverly, also said there were 4,500 "complex" cases dating back to pre-June 2022 which needed further work by officials, prompting accusations that the government has in fact not cleared the "legacy" backlog. 

Enver Solomon, CEO the Refugee Council, said it was "misleading" for Sunak and his ministers to claim that the backlog has been cleared as "thousands are still waiting for a decision".

Speaking to reporters this morning, the Prime Minister's official spokesperson insisted that Sunak and the government were being "transparent" about the asylum figures. 

"We committed to clearing the backlog. That is what the government has done.

"We are being very transparent about what that entails," they said.

"We have processed all of those cases and have gone further than the orginal commitment to 112,000 decisions made overall.

"As a result of that process, there are a small