Diane Abbott MP, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary, speaking in response to the launch of a UK report from the Refugee Council, said:

“This report is a damning indictment of how this Tory Government treats refugees.

“The complex, arbitrary and hostile processes they have introduced have created a bureaucratic mess, with a backlog of almost 25,000 cases.

“Ministers urgently need to implement a streamlined system that assesses claims fairly and in a timely way, and treats asylum-seekers humanely.”