Ministers to make it harder for refugees to bring families to UK

Ministers are planning to make it harder for refugees to bring family to the UK as part of a package of measures Yvette Cooper will announce today as she looks to get a grip on the fractious irregular migration debate.

- Kiran Stacey

The home secretary will tell MPs she plans to make a number of changes, including to the family reunion policy, which officials say acts as a magnet for Channel crossings.

Cooper's statement to the Commons on the first day back since the summer break is intended to draw a line under a difficult summer for the government, marked by public protests and legal wrangling over its use of hotels to house asylum seekers.

The home secretary will say: "Our action to strengthen border security, increase returns and overhaul the broken asylum system are putting much stronger foundations in place so we can fix the chaos we inherited and end costly asylum hotels.