Immigration law firm making £1.7m in legal aid loses contract over standards

Thousands of asylum seekers left without lawyers after firm took on thousands of cases with just five solicitors

An immigration law firm that signed up thousands of asylum seekers and generated income of 1.7m in legal aid in the last year, despite only employing five solicitors to represent them, has had its government contract terminated after concerns about its performance, the Guardian has learned.

The decision leaves many asylum seekers struggling to find new legal representatives at a time when the government is increasing the number of cases it refuses.