The Home Office has barred asylum seekers from using their state support on what it describes as luxury goods and non-essential services, issuing a list of banned purchases that stretches from toys and audiobooks to armoured vehicles and boat rentals.
The rules, which came into effect on 11 August, according to a leaked Home Office document, apply to the pre-paid “Aspen card” system, through which asylum seekers receive weekly allowances of £9.95. For those that are self-catered, that allowance goes up to £49.18 a week.
