Asked by: Max Wilkinson (Liberal Democrat - Cheltenham)
Question to the Attorney General:
To ask the Solicitor General, with reference to the Home Office policy paper entitled Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy, updated 20 November 2025, what assessment has the Attorney General made of how changes to the interpretation of Article 8 will impact the number of cases being escalated to Strasbourg.
Answered by Ellie Reeves - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
This Labour government is committed to bringing back control and fairness to our border.
By long-standing convention, the fact that I, or a fellow Law Officer, may have advised or not advised, as well as the content of our advice, is not disclosed outside government.
As explained in Erskine May: “By long-standing convention, observed by successive Governments, the fact of, and substance of advice from, the law officers of the Crown is not disclosed outside government. This convention is referred to in paragraph [5.14] of the Ministerial Code. The purpose of this convention is to enable the Government to obtain frank and full legal advice in confidence.”