Suella Braverman refusing to roll out asylum-support scheme deemed ‘more humane’

The UN hailed a pilot project that cut the cost of helping refugees, but the Home Office remains set on hardline illegal migration bill

The UN has backed a Home Office-funded pilot that would dramatically reduce the spiralling costs of the crisis-hit asylum system - yet Suella Braverman is refusing to endorse the scheme, despite it being described as more humane".

This week, the UNHCR (the refugee agency that helps the UK government improve its asylum system) will praise a Home Office-funded scheme in Bedfordshire, which it found cut the cost of accommodating refugees and migrants by more than half when compared with placing them in detention. The savings came through housing people and giving legal and welfare support.