Exclusive: Boris Johnson told to overhaul 'not fit for purpose' asylum system

Boris Johnson must form a new "root and branch" asylum-seeking Bill that ends all claims if migrants pass through safe countries, more than 40 Conservative MPs have said. In a letter seen by The Telegraph, the newly formed Common Sense Group of MPs urged the Prime Minister to overhaul the UK’s asylum system that they claim “is unfit for purpose”. “Only through primary legislation which supersedes unhelpful case law can we take back control of our borders.” The group of MPs and peers, many of whom recently met with Priti Patel over Zoom to discuss the migrant crisis, called for the legislation to prohibit “claims from asylum seekers who have travelled through ‘safe’ countries and are not lodged immediately after the individual has arrived in the UK”. They added that “a strict time limit on the application process” for which migrants can claim asylum “would act as a significant deterrent to those intending to make repeated bogus claims with the expectation that physical arrival in Britain means they will likely never leave”. The letter, whose signatories include Sir John Hayes, the former security minister, Sir Edward Leigh and a number of Red Wall MPs including Lee Anderson and Mark Jenkinson, cautions that the UK’s offer of “refuge to those at genuine risk of persecution is a long and noble national commitment”.