The most asylum applications on record – but also, perhaps, the beginning of a crackdown under Labour.
There were 108,138 people claiming asylum in 2024, beating a record that had stood for more than 20 years.
But drill down into the numbers and, for the first time since 2020, more applications were refused than granted.
That means despite a record number of applications, fewer people – 39,616 – were given asylum in 2024 than in 2023 – 63,000 – under the Conservatives.
But on other asylum numbers promised to be reduced, the stats are less encouraging for Labour.
First, the number of asylum seekers in hotels and other temporary accommodation.
This matters for two reasons. The first is public anger at the practice. Remember that in the August riots, it was hotels housing asylum seekers that were targeted, in one case being set alight.
And second, for public finances. A huge amount of money – £4.2bn – was spent on covering hotel costs in 2023.
That was a large chunk of the UK’s foreign aid budget – 28%. With foreign aid being reduced to fund defence, getting that bill down means the money can go further.
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But the numbers in the first six months of the Labour administration have actually gone up.
The problem with that, though, is that the asylum backlog – the number of people waiting for an asylum decision – has increased since Labour took power, and stands at 90,698.
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The tentative good news for the government is that over the last three months, the number has come down 7%.
The other area that Labour has pledged action on is small boats. It abandoned the Conservative pledge to “Stop the Boats” in favour of “Smash the Gangs”.
The gangs are as yet un-smashed: the number of people who arrived on small boats in 2024 was 25% higher than 2023, but down from 2022.
But those two (somewhat overlapping) categories, small boat arrivals and asylum seekers, are only a tiny part of the whole immigration picture, which is overwhelmingly legal migration.
Here, Labour hasn’t introduced much new policy, following changes by the Conservatives to reduce the ability of visa holders to bring dependants, and increasing salary thresholds for workers.
The story here is one of steady decline – but with numbers still above 2019 levels.
