Asylum seekers in the UK are set to get a 10 per cent jump in their subsistence allowance to compensate for high inflation after the high court in London admonished Home Secretary Suella Braverman for failing to fulfil her obligations.
The increase will mean asylum seekers will get £45 a week from the government instead of the existing £40.85p.
With the cost of living soaring, Home Office officials had in summer advised the home secretary to increase the rate of allowance for asylum seekers.
Justice Fordham said in a ruling seen by The Telegraph that the home secretary had acted unlawfully by failing to increase the subsistence allowance to £45 after inflation shot up to more than 10 per cent from three per cent.
He said: “The failure to consider this issue and make any decision was unlawful. In public law terms this, in my judgement, was an abdication of function. It was a failure to take into account relevant matters; a failure to consider matters; a failure to take into account a significant factor which the [Secretary of State] was bound to take into account.”
Justice Fordham also issued a “mandatory order” which forced the home secretary to implement an immediate rise in asylum support.
It is expected to impact some 85,000 asylum seekers staying in Britain.
A 32-year-old Nigerian woman with three children who sought asylum after fleeing domestic violence last year had brought the case.
The woman, housed in Liverpool, spoke about how she was forced to choose between buying Calpol or food for her children with the £163.40 a week the family was getting from the government at £40.85p per person.
“I’m going without the clothes, toiletries, and food that I need, to try to give as much as I can to the children. When I speak to my friends at the church, they tell me that they are facing the same problems,” The Telegraph quoted her as saying.
Weekly subsistence allowance for asylum seekers to be hiked by 10 per cent after High Court ruling
The high court in London ruled that the home secretary acted unlawfully by failing to increase government support.
FILE PHOTO: A general view shows British Steel's Scunthorpe plant, in Scunthorpe, northern England, Britain, March 31, 2025. REUTERS/Dominic Lipinski
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. (Representational image: iStock)
FBU chief raises concern over rise in racist online posts by union members
THE FIRE Brigades Union (FBU) and other trade unions are increasingly concerned about a rise in racist and bigoted online comments by their own members and officials, according to Steve Wright, the FBU’s new general secretary, speaking to the Guardian.
Wright said internal inquiries have revealed dozens of cases involving members using racist slurs or stereotypes, often aimed at asylum seekers.
He said similar issues were reported in other unions, prompting a joint campaign to counter false narratives around immigration and race promoted by far-right groups online.
“People with far-right views are becoming more brazen in what they do on social media, and I’ve witnessed it with my own union around disciplinary cases and the rhetoric of some of our own members,” Wright said to the newspaper.
He added, “Some of our members and sometimes our reps have openly made comments which are racist and bigoted. In my time in the fire service, that has gone up.”
The FBU is planning to introduce new internal policies and wants the TUC to take action as well. A formal statement addressing far-right narratives will be launched at the union’s annual conference in Blackpool next month.
Wright cited the influence of social media and figures like Donald Trump and Nigel Farage as factors contributing to these incidents. “It feels like an itch that we’ve got to scratch,” he said.
The FBU barred a former official last year for allegedly endorsing racist content on X, including posts from Britain First and Tommy Robinson.
Wright also warned that the union could strike if the government moves to cut frontline fire services.