British Prime Minister Keir Starmer speaks with customers as he visits Barclays bank in Brighton, England, Thursday, Oct. 23, 2025.

Fresh problems within the asylum system will spell further trouble for the Labour government this week.

Ongoing concerns over immigration have already helped to fuel Keir Starmer’s political opponents, like Reform UK, over the last 15 months – and recent events just handed them another win.

Labour has been trying to come down much harder on the whole immigration system, but a few rather unflattering new stories mean the government’s approach is looking rather thin on the ground – to put it mildly.

Here’s what you need to know.

Fresh asylum accommodation fallout

Overnight, a brutal report from MPs on the Home Affairs Committee accused the Home Office of squandering billions of taxpayers’ pounds on mismanagement of asylum accommodation.

The cross-party group blamed flawed contract design and incompetent delivery from the Home Office for leaving the government unable to manage with the increased demand for accommodation.

They noted how hotels went from a temporary stop-gap to the expensive go-to solution – as the cost of is set to rise from £4.5 billion in 2019 to £15.3 billion in 2029.

Tory MP and committee chair Karen Bradley said it was time for “urgent action” and accused the government department of not creating a long-term strategy to deliver on asylum accommodation.

“The Home Office has presided over a failing asylum accommodation system that has cost taxpayers billions of pounds,” she said.

“Its response to increasing demand has been rushed and chaotic, and the department has neglected the day-to-day management of these contracts.

“The government needs to get a grip on the asylum accommodation system in order to bring costs down and hold providers to account for poor performance.”

She........

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