‘Good humanitarian reason’: Ed Davey calls for emergency programme to clear asylum backlog

Exclusive: Lib Dem leader says push to process cases would also ultimately save money and remove far-right target

Ed Davey has called for an emergency programme to clear the asylum backlog and treat refugees with compassion, before a Liberal Democrat conference where the party aims to target disillusioned Conservative and Labour voters.

Speaking before the gathering in Bournemouth, which begins on Saturday, Davey's intervention on migration marks a broadening of the Lib Dem policy focus, which at the last election was carefully aimed towards a handful of areas such as health, care and pollution.