PM: VAST £4BN SPEND ON ASYLUM IS UNACCEPTABLE

RISHI Sunak has insisted the best way of slashing the "unacceptable" £4billion-a-year asylum bill is to "stop the boats in the first place".

- Michael Knowles

But he admitted that the Government has more to do to reduce the "vast expense" to taxpayers.

The cost of the asylum system ballooned to £3.96billion from £2.11billion in a year as the total of migrants waiting for a decision rose to a record high. Tory MPs last night said the immigration system is "not fit for purpose" and urged "root and branch reform".

But the Prime Minister told the Daily Express: "The best way to relieve the unsustainable pressures on our asylum system and unacceptable costs to the taxpayer is to stop the boats in the first place.

"That's why we are focused on our plan to break the business model of the people smugglers facilitating these journeys, including working with international partners upstream to disrupt their efforts, stepping up joint work with the French to help reduce crossings and tackling the asylum backlog.

"We've already reduced the legacy backlog by over 28,000 nearly a third since the start of December and we remain on track to meet our target.

"But we know there is more to do to make sure asylum seekers do not spend months or years living in the UK at vast expense to the taxpayer waiting for a decision." The PM has vowed to clear the backlog of 92,601 "legacy" cases " - those which have been in the system since June 2022 by the end of this year.

Mr Sunak added: "That's why we've doubled the number of caseworkers over the last two years and continue to recruit more, and we are streamlining and modernising the end-to-end process with improved guidance, more focused interviews and rolling out the use of digital technology.' The Home Office spent £3.97billion on the asylum system in 2022/23, up from £2.12billion in a year. A decade ago the cost to taxpayers was £500.2million.