Statement of Consensus, November 2025

We, the undersigned, as practitioners and researchers working in UK migration and asylum law, collectively observe the following issues with the UK Government’s asylum policy announcements which were presented to the House of Commons on 17th November 2025, and published with the title “Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy”. We are worried about the evidential foundations of the proposed policies and the effects that they will have on the UK’s compliance with its international law obligations and with domestic constitutional norms, as well as the values of justice, decency and fairness. The plans will also harm the ability of UK administrative bodies such as the Home Office to provide prompt and effective services. The purpose of this statement of consensus is to highlight our concerns regarding these proposals in the hope that the government might return to valuing evidence-based policy and, accordingly, abandon the proposed Policy Paper which will exacerbate, rather than address, the current challenges facing the UK asylum system.<p></p>