Seven in 10 say Starmer is handling migration badly

The public is losing confidence in Sir Keir Starmer's ability to tackle migration, new polling has revealed.

- ARCHIE MITCHELL DAVID MADDOX

The YouGov findings revealed that 71 per cent believe that the prime minister is handling the asylum hotel issue badly, including 56 per cent of Labour voters. The findings for The Times came as the government announced that it would be overhauling the legal process for asylum applications in an effort to fast-track decisions and attempt to prevent “over interpretation” of the European Convention of Human Rights.

It also followed a weekend of demonstrations outside asylum hotels, which saw protesters clash with police. Under the “Abolish Asylum System” banner, demonstrators gathered in Solihull, Dudley, Epping, Stevenage, London, Manchester, and Norwich.

Home secretary Yvette Cooper said a new fast-track appeals system would see decisions made more quickly, curtailing the spiralling backlog in the courts and helping Labour meet its promise to end the use of asylum hotels.

But with Nigel Farage set to unveil details of a mass deportation plan today as Reform tries to capitalise on the issue, the YouGov poll underlined its importance to voters.

According to the findings, nearly four in 10 voters (37 per cent) said that immigration and asylum was the most important issue facing the country, compared with 25 per cent who said it was the economy and 7 per cent the health service.