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Andy Burnham gave a speech on social care last week, pledging a national care service and fair pay for care workers. As the Work Rights Centre pointed out, there was nothing in it about the migrant care workers who make up around a third of care workers in the UK, and who, under the earned settlement proposals, may face a 15-year wait before they are eligible to settle in the UK. If those workers decide to leave, the sector will be under even more pressure than it is currently.
Anti-immigration violence broke out in Thetford, Norfolk, on three nights last week. Crowds had gathered outside properties believed to house asylum seekers, smashing windows and kicking down doors, and terrifying the local community. Two police officers had to be taken to hospital. People waiting for a decision on their asylum claim have no choice in where they are housed. Terrorising them is indefensible, and a huge waste of police resources.
As of 3 August, the Home Office was due to start combining screening and substantive asylum interviews into a new ‘merged registration process’. This means fewer opportunities to substantiate a claim. Rainbow Migration has raised concerns about the impact on LGBTQI+ asylum seekers. Decision-making quality is already poor and the change could result in more people being returned to countries where they face serious harm. The Helen Bamber Foundation and Freedom from Torture have submitted concerns to the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee.
Over on Free Movement last week, the courts finishing up for summer meant a flurry of case write-ups, with more still to come.
Ross Kennedy wrote up the Supreme Court decision in Akbars Restaurant, where an illegal working civil penalty notice was found invalid because it failed to specify which of the four statutory grounds of liability was being relied upon. Ross suggests advisers should check notices carefully at the outset as similar challenges could be brought.
Ben Nelson reported on the conclusion of the long-running Diego Garcia detention litigation, in which the Privy Council refused the BIOT Commissioner permission to appeal. This confirmed the previous findings that asylum seekers were unlawfully detained on the island for years. Claims for damages from the 12 claimants, and potentially many others, are yet to be brought.
Joseph Maggs covered a Court of Appeal judgment on the Jamaica country guidance. This upheld the decision to apply a lower threshold when assessing whether a Jamaican national would be admitted to the witness protection programme and therefore be safe to return.
We also managed to squeeze in a new guide from Niamh Fegan on applying for immigration bail.
Free Movement members can now sign up for email alerts from our Immigration Updates Dashboard. You can choose from a daily or weekly digest, or follow single topics, under Toolkit policy alerts on the email preferences page. Make sure you are signed in at freemovement.org.uk first, or the toolkit options won’t show.
For everything else on Free Movement and elsewhere, read on.
Jasmine
What we’re reading
The myth of the “Boriswave”, Sam Freedman’s Substack, 9 August 2026
More than 170 migrants rescued after boat catches fire in Channel, BBC, 4 August 2026
Nearly 50 asylum seekers deported under ‘one in one out’ scheme have returned to the UK, The Guardian, 6 August 2026
Global Talent visa expanded to attract world’s brightest researchers to power British innovation, gov.uk, 6 August 2026
Crown Courts, Royal Courts of Justice and immigration and asylum chambers in London, HM Inspectorate of Prisons, 3 August 2026
Survivors of trafficking in Scotland: What support is available?, Just Rights Scotland, 6 August 2026
Badenoch is pressing the cruelty button in a desperate bid to be heard, The i Paper, 7 August 2026
Home Office tells Italian man his right to stay in UK after Brexit was ‘error’, The Guardian, 6 August 2026
