Asylum-seekers in Wales will get a £1,600 monthly hand-out and taxpayer cash to fight deportation under Labour plans
YOUNG asylum-seekers in Wales will get a £1,600 monthly hand-out and taxpayer cash to fight deportation under Labour plans.
Ministers in Cardiff want Whitehall approval for migrants to get universal basic income without being deprived of legal aid.
It would mean the government pays them both a wage and lawyers’ fees to stop them being deported.
The move has sparked anger from some inside Westminster who view it as overly generous.
Sir Keir Starmer was earlier tonight under pressure to distance himself from the scheme being pushed by his party’s First Minister Mark Drakeford.
A letter leaked to The Sun shows three Welsh Labour ministers — Jane Hutt, Julie Morgan and Mick Antoniw — asking Tory Justice Minister Lord Bellamy for the go-ahead.
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They want migrants who arrive unaccompanied as children to participate in their universal basic income scheme from age 18.
A pilot programme in Wales is handing £1,600 every month to care-leavers for two years.
But Welsh Labour fears “participation in the pilot may impact on unaccompanied child asylum-seekers’ eligibility for legal aid, in particular the means testing element”.
The TaxPayers’ Alliance’s James Roberts said: “Legal aid is rightly means tested.
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“Illegal immigrants should not be allowed to claim this cash.”
It is understood Sir Keir's Westminster Labour do not have plans to change legal aid policy.
The Welsh government said: “We want to ensure unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are not prevented from accessing schemes and benefits.”
A Ministry of Justice spokesman said: “Last year we spent around £30 million on legal aid for asylum seekers and we will respond to the letter in due course."