Rishi Sunak has been accused of trying to “cook the books” and a “barefaced lie” after he claimed to have cleared the asylum backlog despite figures showing nearly 100,000 migrants still waiting for a decision.
The home secretary James Cleverly also appeared to compound the prime minister’s woes on a difficult first day back after the new year break, saying it was “impossible” to forecast how long it would take to deal with outstanding cases.
