𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Labour will not take on a legal profession helping migrants to cheat the asylum system because lawyers are “their people”, Kemi Badenoch has claimed. The Conservative leader, in a blistering attack, warned of an “entire industry of lawyers, charities and activist groups undermining our country”.

Mrs Badenoch said Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood are relying on support from human rights lawyers to stay in power. It comes as fresh revelations detailed how migrants are falsely claiming to be victims of domestic abuse and making up allegations against former partners to stay in the UK. In one alarming case, a Pakistani migrant claimed he was a victim of abuse after being accused of rape.

Mrs Badenoch said: “£7,000. That’s all you need to learn how to cheat the asylum system by pretending you are gay.

“That’s what some lawyers are charging and for that, you’ll get fake stories, fake partners, fake medical records. All fabricated. All rubber-stamped.

“But this goes deeper than one scam. There is an entire industry of lawyers, charities and activist groups undermining our country.

“This Labour government won’t do anything about it because these are their people, in their areas, propping up their coalition.

“We need to make sure that any lawyer encouraging their clients to lie to gain asylum is struck off and prosecuted.

“That is the only way we shut down this racket for good.”

Reform UK has vowed to scrap legal aid for asylum seekers who arrived in the UK illegally.

And the party has declared rogue lawyers who help migrants to cheat the system should face prosecution and up to two years behind bars.

Reform’s Zia Yusuf told the Daily Express: “It is time to end this madness for good – and only Reform is willing to do it.

“Asylum seekers who cheat and lie to get to Britain have already proven they are utterly unsuitable to reside here, and the same people are rewarded for their dishonesty with hard-earned taxpayer money.

“Reform will end all legal aid for those who enter the country illegally or overstay on their visa – because the British people should never be expected to foot the bill for those who make a mockery of our laws.

“Word-of-mouth among asylum seekers makes it inevitable that more groups will try to gain entry this way – and, as the BBC report shows, there is very little the Home Office can do to block their claim.”

Some migrants, both male and female, are duping British partners into relationships and marriage and then making fake domestic abuse claims after moving to the UK.

Others are being encouraged to fabricate abuse allegations by legal advisers who advertise online.

The number of people claiming fast-track residency on the basis of domestic abuse has now reached more than 5,500 a year – a number which has risen by more than 50% in just three years.

In one alarming case, Aisha told the BBC: “He was promising the world, proper love-bombing me. And he was buying things as well, trying to get me to fall in love very quickly with him.”

After an Islamic wedding, the relationship turned toxic, she said.

Aisha said: “He became fully controlling, very abusive. He started demanding that he wanted a baby in the country.

“And I think his friends at the time were telling him, you should have a baby to secure yourself here. So, he was trying very hard to get me pregnant. And that included, unfortunately, rape as well.

“I think once he got that curtailment letter, he thought there’s no way out, they’re telling me to leave, I need to do something.”

But the alleged asylum cheat told police he was the victim of domestic abuse.

He told officers that she and her family had subjected him to coercive control, and that she had been physically violent as well.

Aisha added: “He told me just before he made the domestic abuse report: “Oh don’t worry, I’ve multiple ways to stay here. I don’t need you to stay in the country,

“I was being supported by the authorities and I was being supported by domestic abuse agencies, way before his allegation of domestic abuse. And for him to turn the narrative around and say I’m a perpetrator, it was heartbreaking.”

Asked about the reports, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “Both the Home Office and Immigration Advice Authority are investigating the claims made by the BBC, both yesterday and today, to ensure anyone potentially abusing our immigration system is held accountable.

“Any attempt to misuse protections designed to protect genuine victims from the devastation of domestic abuse is shameful and completely unacceptable.”