Fury as most migrants appealing to stay in UK don’t even have court date | Politics | News
Thousands of small boat migrants crossed the Channel this year (Image: Getty)
Taxpayers are left to “pay the bill” as tens of thousands of immigrants applying to stay in Britain do not even have a hearing date. New data shows six out of seven asylum applications are not listed in court. The Conservatives warned the courts were being used as a “holding ground for illegal immigration” because of the delays.
According to Ministry of Justice data, there were 69,670 asylum and immigration applications outstanding as of the end of September 2025, down from 33,227 just before Labor came to power.
But figures obtained using a Freedom of Information request show only 10,518 have been given a date, while 59,152 cases are awaiting a date.
Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy said: “Courts are being used as a holding pen for illegal immigration, feeding a growing backlog in the courts and creating an enormous burden on taxpayers. “Every week of delay is a week in which eviction cannot take place, a solicitor bills the taxpayer and people who cross the Channel illegally are left where they are.
“Labour has allowed this queue to grow and has set itself no targets for reducing it. The Conservatives will close it down and replace it with quick, final decisions made under the authority of ministers.”
Tory Nick Timothy warns courts are ‘being used as a pen for illegal immigration’ (Image: PA)
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has stressed that migrants wishing to remain in the UK will be housed in taxpayer-funded hotels or other accommodation “while their often fraudulent asylum applications continue”.
He said: “Six in seven asylum seekers do not have a hearing date.
“Thousands of people, mostly illegal immigrants, continue to be housed in expensive hotels and apartments, while often fraudulent asylum applications continue, with taxpayers footing the bill.
“Labour has left every lever of the legal machine untouched and will never dismantle it because the Prime Minister and Attorney General have spent their careers building it.
“Only the Conservatives are prepared to do what control requires. Through our Border Plan, we will leave the European Convention on Human Rights and the European Convention against Trafficking in Persons, ban asylum and other protection claims for illegal entrants, establish our deportation power, get rid of immigration courts, increase deportations to 150,000 a year and end the appeals merry-go-round.”
The First Tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) hears appeals against Home Office immigration and asylum decisions.
Data shows the average time from filing an appeal to the first hearing has increased from 35 weeks in June 2024 to 54 weeks by September 2025.
Meanwhile, the average time between the initiation of an appeal and the issuance of a final decision increased from 43 weeks to 52 weeks over the same period.
Read more: Keir Starmer issues urgent immigration warning as young Brits flee UK
It comes as more than 8,000 small boat migrants have arrived in Britain so far this year after a busy weekend amid a heatwave. Earlier this month, the UK passed the eye-popping milestone of more than 200,000 people making the switch since records began in 2018.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to “smash up the gangs” to get the Canal crisis under control.
It signed a “one in, one out” migrant return agreement with France last year, but this agreement failed to deter people from making the journey. Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood signed a new £662m three-year deal with Paris last month; After the UK gave more money in the latest bid to block the crossings.
The Labor Government has also pledged to end the use of hotels for asylum seekers by the next election.
Figures released last week show the number of migrants housed in hotels has fallen to 20,885 by March 2026. But about 68,719 people lived in houses, apartments and bedrooms in communities across the country.
The Conservative Party and Nigel Farage’s Reform Party have vowed to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights in a bid to resolve the small boats issue.
A government spokesman said: “This government has returned and deported 67,000 illegal immigrants and foreign criminals since coming to power – an increase of 41%.
“But we inherited an asylum system that was under great pressure and where decision-making took too long.
“We are restoring order to this system by deploying additional staff and providing extra funding to maximize the number of appeals that can be heard in the courts.”
Comment from Shadow Justice Secretary Nick Timothy
The immigration court system has ceased to function as an effective legal process.
Instead, it has become a bureaucratic tool that delays the proper processing of cases and allows people to remain in Britain who should not be here.
The backlog has reached staggering levels and, as it turns out, most cases do not even have a court list; As time progressed and bills piled up, the procedure was suspended due to uncertainty.
It has become almost impossible to deport people who should be deported if they are allowed to repeatedly defy the Home Office through frustrating appeals, joining them at the back of a queue that can take up to a year for a case to even be heard.
This has become complete nonsense. Addressing this problem at its core is crucial to overcoming this crisis and ultimately stopping illegal immigration.
Only the Conservative Party’s BORDERS Plan can end this chaos by shutting down the appeals sector altogether.
We will abolish the Immigration Court, end nearly all judicial review of immigration matters, and eliminate legal aid in immigration cases.
Decisions will be made quickly by the Ministry of Internal Affairs; There will be only a narrow right of internal appeal and strictly limited judicial review in cases where ministers act unlawfully.
This is the only way to break the cycle, regain control and stop the asylum system from bleeding taxpayers dry.
And we will go further. We will ban illegal immigrants from seeking asylum, this will be possible if they leave the ECHR and other obligations that hinder this, we will establish a return force to deport illegal arrivals and foreign criminals within a week.
We need to end a system that rewards years of delay and bills the public for the privilege.
