Suella Braverman: Government must publish legal advice on detention of asylum seekers

• Ignoring legal advice on detention of asylum seekers is both “unethical” and  could lead to “colossal waste of taxpayers’ money”

• Home Office already paid out £70m in compensation and adverse legal costs last year

The Liberal Democrats have called on the government to publish the legal advice reportedly ignored by Suella Braverman that the government has been illegally detaining thousands of asylum seekers in appalling conditions.

By ignoring the advice, the Home Secretary’s actions could potentially cost taxpayers millions of pounds in legal action.

It comes as research by the Liberal Democrats has found the Home Office paid out £70 million of taxpayers’ money in compensation and adverse legal costs last year, enough to pay for 1,700 more police officers. This includes £25.1m to 768 victims of the Windrush scandal and £12.7m to 572 people who were wrongfully detained in immigration centres.

The analysis also shows that compensation payments by the Home Office have trebled over the past three years, from £13.6 million in 2019-20 to £41.1 million last year.

Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said:

“The government must immediately publish the legal advice it received on the detention of asylum seekers at the Manston Centre, who have been forced to endure appalling conditions. The public must not be kept in the dark, they need to know whether the Home Secretary has knowingly acted unlawfully. 

“Ignoring this legal advice would not only be completely unethical, it could lead to a colossal waste of taxpayers’ money. If it is confirmed that Suella Braverman acted unlawfully, Rishi Sunak would surely have no choice but to sack her. 

“The failure of successive Conservative Home Office ministers to respect the rules has already cost taxpayers millions that could have been spent making our communities safer. The Government needs to get a grip and stop this scandalous waste of money.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

The Home Office’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2021-22 is available here. Page 136 gives details of the department’s ‘special payments’, including:

Median basic pay for full-time police constables = £40,700 [Source: Police Remuneration Review Body Report 2022, page 91]. £69.9m / £40,700 = 1,717 police officers.

Figures for compensation payouts by the Home Office in 2019-20 can be found here (p.118).