Eligible asylum seekers could get support before 2003 court case
Misleading claims that the former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer won a court case in 2003 “that gave illegal migrants access to UK benefits” are being shared again online.
The posts likely refer to a 2003 case, in which Mr Starmer was a barrister, concerning access to accommodation and financial support for some asylum seekers.
But eligible asylum seekers could already legally access financial support and accommodation before this.
Mr Starmer represented five asylum seekers who took the government to court, challenging the legal basis for the Home Office refusing financial support for asylum seekers who did not make an asylum claim “as soon as reasonably practicable” after arriving in the UK.
Join 75,000 newsletter subscribers who trust us to check the facts
Sign up to get weekly updates on politics, immigration, health and more.
Subscribe to weekly email newsletters from Full Fact for updates on politics, immigration, health and more. Our fact checks are free to read but not to produce, so you will also get occasional emails about fundraising and other ways you can help. You can unsubscribe at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy.
The court ruled in favour of the claimants, meaning destitute asylum seekers are entitled to government support, regardless of the length of time that it took them to apply for asylum.
Full Fact has previously checked similar claims.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because eligible asylum seekers could already access accommodation and financial support before the 2003 case involving Mr Starmer.
Was this helpful?
Full Fact fights for good, reliable information in the media, online, and in politics.