Keir Starmer’s migrant U-turns come back to haunt Andy Burnham as damning asylum stats corner PM

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A string of migration policy U-turns under Sir Keir Starmer's Government appear to have come back to haunt Andy Burnham after damning asylum statistics were revealed today.

Since Labour took office in 2024, the party has U-turned on or altogether dropped a host of policies intended to ease illegal immigration into Britain, while others have objectively failed to make any meaningful change.

Fresh Home Office statistics showed the number of asylum seekers in the UK has ballooned beyond 73,000, while the number of those applying to settle has hit a 16-year high.

Despite only assuming the role of Prime Minister last month, the latest data reflects poorly on the incumbent, Andy Burnham.

Sir Keir's first notable migrant U-turn was the renowned Rwanda deportation scheme, scrapped within days of assuming office in July 2024.

The scheme would have seen Channel migrants sent to the East African country while their asylum claims are processed, until the then prime minister described the effort as "dead and buried".

The scheme was scrapped entirely on the grounds that it would only deport less than one per cent of asylum seekers arriving on small boats, making it unviable as a real deterrent – choosing instead to redirect funding into a new Border Security.

The Supreme Court also ruled in November 2023 that the plan was unlawful under international and domestic human rights laws and that Rwanda was not deemed a safe destination to relocate migrants to.

The controversial Migration and Economic Development Partnership cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of pounds, without ever successfully deporting a single asylum seeker under the plan.

Yet another case of about-turns was witnessed with Syrian asylum claims, which were first paused under Labour in December 2024 after the fall of the Assad regime.

At the time, officials stated there was a lack of information to accurately judge the risk of return to Syria, leaving more than 7,000 pending applicants in legal limbo.

It was then reversed in July 2025, when case working resumed after a seven-month freeze when the conflict reignited in the region, rendering the country unsafe once more.

Perhaps the Labour Government's biggest U-turn on immigration was its effective reversal of key elements of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, introducing legislation to repeal its detention and removal provisions for everyone arriving via unauthorised routes in July 2024.

The Government noted that the previous rules had stalled internal decision-making by the Home Secretary, creating an unmanageable backlog, with new legislation enacted to resume processing regular asylum claims.

However, by December 2025, Labour passed the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, coupled with the Sentencing Act 2026, extending deportation duties.

Shabana Mahmood has been hard at work to shift focus toward tougher enforcement powers of the kind it had initially rolled back.

Pressure is now mounting on Andy Burnham to take action as the Prime Minister comes under greater scrutiny.

Home Office data released today showed more than 73,000 migrants were housed in "non-hotel accommodation" in the 12 months leading up to June this year.

The figure is three per cent higher than at the end of June 2025.

In a bid to close all hotel accommodation by 2029, the housing of hundreds of male asylum seekers in disused military barracks and other sites has sparked significant local and national outrage, protests, and political backlash.

Today's figures also show the number of foreign criminals on Britain's streets who are subject to deportation orders has jumped by more than 2,000 in a year.

A total of 21,294 foreign national offenders were living free in the community in the year to June 2026, up from 18,993 a year earlier – attributed to Labour's early release scheme.

Separately, more migrants than ever applied to settle in the UK over the last year as foreign nationals rushed to secure their status before tougher immigration rules came into force.

The number of migrants granted indefinite leave to remain climbed to 199,628 in the year to June 2026, up 24 per cent on the previous year and the highest annual total for 16 years.

Ms Mahmood's reforms aim to lengthen the time migrants must spend in the UK before qualifying for legal status, which allows them to live, work and study permanently in Britain.

However, the Home Secretary's critics have little faith based on the party's track record.