Justice Secretary Alex Chalk has told lawyers to “keep their politics to themselves” after he was asked about those who seek to legally challenge Britain’s latest asylum policy.
“In the last 10 years there’s been a growing and I think regrettable trend for lawyers to actively parade their politics and identify more with their clients,” Mr. Chalk told BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme on Tuesday.
Only a small number of immigrants are expected to be housed on the barge at first, though there are indications the number could increase rapidly to its capacity of around 500 men.
Mr. Chalk said it would be “much better for lawyers in the main to keep their politics to themselves” and said it was a mistake for them to be “enthusiastic about parading their political opposition.”
“If they can avoid that they should avoid it,” he added.
‘All Possibilities’
The government is looking at “all possibilities” for tackling the migrant crisis, following reports that it is considering reviving plans to fly people who arrive by unauthorised means 4,000 miles to Ascension Island.The Home Office and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) said the Professional Enablers Taskforce, which targets “a small minority” of “unscrupulous lawyers,” has already uncovered a case in which an immigration firm is linked to “one of the most wanted human traffickers.”
Mr. Chalk said, “Where there is this illegality it’s absolutely right that we ramp up our ability within government to identify fraud.”
Questioned by the BBC whether he is saying that lawyers who have helped prevent immigrants from being sent to the Bibby Stockholm barge have done something wrong, Mr. Chalk said: “You are absolutely right to draw a distinction. No, I’m not. That is an important distinction.
“People who are making stuff up deserve, frankly, the full force of the law, the law should come down like a ton of bricks.
Phoney Applications
Last week, the Solicitors Regulation Authority shut down three law firms—Rashid & Rashid in southwest London, Kingswright Solicitors in Birmingham, and Lincoln Lawrence in west London—following a Daily Mail report that said a number of solicitors had agreed to help an undercover reporter, posing as an economic migrant, invent horrifying stories and submit a phoney application in exchange for thousands of pounds.One firm, which was found to be “linked to one of the most wanted human traffickers,” has been referred to the police, the government said.
The departments also said lawyers found to be coaching immigrants to lie can could face up to life in prison under the Immigration Act 1971 for “assisting unlawful immigration to the UK.”
Reacting to the government’s “task force” announcement on Tuesday, David McNeill, public affairs director of The Law Society, told the BBC that something like this has “been in existence for months now.”
“The solicitor’s profession wants to see all of this eradicated,” he said.
“It’s not in our interest to have any solicitor acting improperly or crookedly, but this announcement today is something of a red herring.
“This task force which they tout with such aggressive language has been in existence for months now, so really from our perspective it just looks like a bit of lawyer-bashing as a distraction from really bad news for the government on the number of asylum seekers now accommodated in hotels—50,000.
“Most asylum claims are successful. Those claims which are unsuccessful go to appeal; over half are granted on appeal.
“There’s something fundamentally wrong with this system.”
