Prime Minister Andy Burnham has defended new Government advice telling asylum seekers that rape and domestic abuse are serious crimes. He said it is right to make it “explicitly clear” what the UK’s societal norms and laws are.
Home Office publishes guidance on UK laws
The Home Office published the nine-page document, titled Understanding Behaviours And Expectations In The UK, yesterday. Speaking to reporters in West Yorkshire today, Mr Burnham said: “As a Government, we have a very clear principle: if you break UK law, you will be removed from the country and we have seen that in relation to immigration, where removals are significantly up. I’m currently working to ensure that foreign national offenders who can be removed from the prison system are removed from that system.”
The Prime Minister said: “So it follows that if we’re taking this approach, it’s made explicitly clear what the UK law is and what the societal norms of the UK are, and that’s why this approach is being taken.”
Guidance covers sex, consent and gender equality
The document says it is to help “understand what is expected of you when living in the UK” and the “rules and expectations are not just for people seeking asylum, they apply to everyone living here”. It advises that rape, sex with someone under the age of 16 and domestic abuse are “serious crimes” which could lead to prison and loss of support and accommodation, as well as affecting asylum claims.
In the section titled “sex and consent”, the guidance tells asylum seekers that “consent is needed in every situation”. The guidance also covers gender equality, saying equal rights are “an important part of UK culture… protected by law”.
Political reaction to the guidance
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said on X: “Instead of trying to train these mainly young, male illegal immigrants to behave in a civilised way towards women, the Home Office should instead deport them. This tells us all we need to know about the kind of people illegally entering our country. Illegal and legal immigrants are coming from places and societies where attitudes towards women are completely incompatible with Western society.”
In a video posted on X, Reform home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf described the guidance as a “disgrace”, which shows the Government knows asylum seekers are a “menace”. A Home Office spokesperson said: “We expect everyone who comes to the UK to abide by our laws. If they do not, they will face consequences, including the refusal of their asylum claim and removal from the UK. Returns of failed asylum seekers have reached their highest level since 2010 under this Government.”
