What’s the real story behind the record high asylum backlog?

The cost of Britain’s asylum system has almost doubled in a year and stands at nearly £4bn, says Andrew Grice

Migrants rescued in the English Channel on Monday are brought onshore at Dungeness, Kent, by RNLI lifeboat (PA)

Some 175,457 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK in June, the highest figure since records began in 2010 and a rise of 44 per cent from a year earlier. The latest quarterly Home Office immigration statistics prompt further questions about whether Rishi Sunak will be able to deliver his pledges to “stop the boats” and clear the backlog of asylum claims. The data shows 80 per cent of people have been waiting longer than six months for an initial decision on their claim.

Right-wing Conservative MPs urged the prime minister to launch an urgent plan to “dramatically” curb legal immigration and honour the party’s 2019 manifesto promise to bring down net migration. But other Tories said the asylum backlog showed the government’s plan to detain and deport migrants crossing the Channel in small boats is “unrealistic”.

Is this all about people arriving in small boats?