Ministers' dalliance with deceit over asylum numbers reeks of Boris Johnson era of fantastical flippant flatulence

Referring specifically to ‘legacy asylum applications’ – claims made prior to 2022 when laws relating to those seeking refuge in Britain changed – the two men responsible for getting to grips with this crisis were unequivocally clear in their message; they have now successfully cleared the asylum processing backlog. Job done.

Except it isn’t job done, despite Mr Cleverly going a step further in relation to legacy claims when he said ‘every single’ legacy application had been processed. That simply is not true: there are around 4,500 so-called legacy claims yet to be processed, but Mr Cleverly, when grilled on his broadcast round, seemed to want us to accept that because his government has said it will look at those outstanding claims, technically they are processed. Poppycock! That is akin to you or I declaring the groceries in our overflowing supermarket trolleys all bought and paid for because at some point on our shopping trip we had intended to offer payment.

And in addition to – if you are minded to be sympathetic – Messrs Sunak and Cleverly dancing with deceit on where they are at when it comes to getting on top of asylum claims, they were delivered yet another blow when analysis showed that as well as the 4,500 legacy claims yet to be processed (that does not equate to every single one, Mr Cleverly) there are an additional 99,000 new claims sitting on the jobs sheet, waiting to be looked at, let alone cleared.

With power slipping away from the Conservatives, you would think that now would be a good time to unhitch the malpractice of the Boris Johnson years, to at least try to put politics back on an honest footing in order to try to win back some notable trust ahead of the fast-approaching General Election.