Andy Burnham facing new migration nightmare as fresh crisis erupts – 156,000 cases_D

Labour’s migrant crisis is intensifying as the number of appeals waiting to be heard surged to a new record of more than 150,000. Andy Burnham and Shabana Mahmood are battling a growing backlog in the first-tier tribunal responsible for immigration and asylum cases.

Some 156,000 cases are waiting to be heard, an increase of 48%, Ministry of Justice figures show. And the length of time taken to close a case has surged to a staggering 65 weeks, prompting renewed fears ministers will not be able to remove tens of thousands of failed asylum seekers, national security threats and foreign criminals.

Asylum appeals are now taking, on average, more than a year and a half to be heard – 13 weeks longer than it did 12 months ago.

Some 90,341 cases are waiting to be heard, up from just 7,601 in the first three months of 2023.

And the number of migrants using human rights laws to contest their removal has surged from 13,041 to 31,459.

Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy said: “Nearly a million cases are stuck in the courts with the immigration backlog alone having more than doubled on Labour’s watch.

“Foreign criminals convicted of serious offences are sitting around for best part of a year before they get a tribunal date, while their victims wait for justice that never comes.

“The courts have become a holding pen for immigration, with an industry that has sprung up to hamper removals. Sadly, Labour will never tackle the lawfare holding this country back.

“The Conservatives would scrap the immigration tribunal and restore control over our border to elected ministers. We also need to look more widely at how courts act as a block on the functioning of government.”

Some 1,500 offenders from overseas have been given free homes because they cannot be deported.

And some 929 of them have had their asylum claims and appeals rejected, the Home Office has admitted.

This cohort – receiving Section 4 support – accounts for almost one in five of all failed asylum seekers still being helped by taxpayers.