Nick Thomas-Symonds comments on leaked Home Office reports that ministers are considering processing asylum claims offshore

“The Tories are lurching from one inhumane and impractical idea to another.

“The idea of sending people to Ascension Island, creating waves in the English Channel to wash boats back and buying ferries and oil rigs to process asylum claims shows the Government has lost control and all sense of compassion.

“They should listen to the cross party Foreign Affairs Select Committee and revisit the issue of safe routes and deliver the promised agreement with France, while reversing the terrible decision to abolish the Department for International Development.”