Welcome to the weekly Free Movement newsletter!
Last week, Andy Burnham took over as Prime Minister. Despite speculation about whether or not Shabana Mahmood would remain as Home Secretary, she has been reappointed and intends to finish the job on her major reforms. More than 200 charities have written to the new Prime Minister urging him to ‘reject the politics of division’ as the hostility towards asylum seekers and refugees that dominates the media does not reflect the compassion shown by communities across the country.
The Helen Bamber Foundation and Asylum Aid have an important new report out, ‘When the Law Changes Sides’, on the criminalisation of trafficking survivors. Survivors regularly enter the criminal justice system before they are identified as having been trafficked and are prosecuted for offences committed as a direct result of their exploitation. The defence in section 45 of the Modern Slavery Act (which is supposed to protect survivors from prosecutions) is not fit for purpose and the Immigration and Asylum Bill will make things much worse.
The Migration Advisory Committee has published its stage 2 report on the Temporary Shortage List, recommending that 28 occupations – including various construction trades and technicians – should be included for 18 months. Other roles were rejected for lack of evidence that the occupation was in shortage, or for inadequate Jobs Plans. The MAC found the quality of evidence submitted by sectors was ‘generally weak’ and signalled it will expect considerably more at the next review in three years.
Over on the blog, a High Court decision found that the Home Office acted unlawfully when it removed the right to request reconsideration of negative trafficking decisions for people facing removal to countries party to the Trafficking Convention. The Home Office had introduced the policy specifically to facilitate removals to France under the ‘one in, one out’ agreement.
There was a reported Upper Tribunal decision which provides important guidance on when immigration lawyers are expected to identify suspected fraud by their clients and what obligations arise when there are red flags.
We also covered the case in which the High Court quashed the revocation of a sponsor licence after the Home Office made a dishonesty allegation in substance, without actually saying it.
Finally, James Ritchie reviewed Sylvain Neuvel’s novella The Test; a sci-fi, dystopian future version of the Life in the UK test. It does not sound as far-fetched as it should be!
For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.
Jasmine
What we’re reading
Our open letter to you (not to Andy Burnham), Right to Remain, 24 July 2026
Existing care workers could be exempt from UK’s tough new immigration rules, The Guardian, 24 July 2026
George: “Britain was a safe haven”, Refugee Council, 23 July 2026
The UK’s contradictory Sudan policy leaves refugees locked out, The New Humanitarian, 21 July 2026
Europe is at risk of creating a human rights black hole with its ‘return hubs’ for migrants, The Guardian, 20 July 2026
Afghan national sentenced to two years in prison for navigating a migrant boat in English Channel, InfoMigrants, 24 July 2026
Green-led council ‘won’t assist immigration raids’, BBC, 24 July 2026
We need you to take action! First Campsfield, now Haslar: the Home Office wants a 600-bed detention centre in Gosport, Right to Remain, 23 July 2026