Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage hosted a press conference in Scotland this week after MSP Graham Simpson defected to his party from the Scottish Conservatives.
During the press conference, the Clacton MP predicted that migration would be a significant factor in the next Scottish Parliament election, and said Glasgow was the “asylum capital of the UK” while making a claim about the number of migrants in the city. His comments were widely publicised across the Scottish media.
“Nearly 4000 people who came to Britain illegally are housed in Glasgow, that’s 50 per cent more than the next highest place in the United Kingdom.”
Ferret Fact Service looked at this claim and found it Mostly False.
The figures behind this claim come from the Home Office, which releases regular statistics on the number of migrants to the UK and those claiming asylum.
Farage’s claim is based on statistics on the number of people being accommodated while they wait for decisions on their claim for refugee status. Glasgow is the local authority area in the UK with the most asylum seekers being housed – 3,844 – which Farage has rounded up to 4,000. Due to large Home Office backlogs, some may have arrived many years previously.
Glasgow is followed by Birmingham, which has 2,755 people in asylum accommodation. This means Scotland hosts 39.5 per cent more than the next highest area, not 50 per cent, as Farage claimed.
London, not Glasgow, has the largest number of any UK city, with 17,161. However it is split into 32 council areas, so does not count as part of the above statistics.
The region accommodating the most people seeking asylum is north west England, which includes Manchester and Liverpool, an area hosting 21,196 people. Scotland overall has 6,107 people in asylum accommodation. This is about six per cent of the UK total.
The Reform UK leader stated that the “4,000” people in Glasgow “came to Britain illegally”. There are various regular and irregular methods of entering the UK, after which someone can claim asylum.
Experts and the government tend to use the terms irregular and regular instead of ‘legal’ and ‘illegal’ for migration to the UK. Irregular routes include small boat crossings, or arriving undetected at a port. However, it is currently not possible for someone to apply for asylum from outside the UK. They must apply once they are within the country. Under the UN Refugee Convention everyone has the right to claim asylum.
According to the legislation, people seeking asylum cannot be penalised for using irregular routes to enter the country. They are therefore not considered illegal migrants.
The Home Office then decides whether they have “a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion”.
Those seeking asylum are not able to work or earn money legally in the UK, so rely on assistance from the government, usually in the form of accommodation or subsistence payments, which are about £50 per person.
There are a few specific resettlement schemes for some people from Ukraine, Afghans impacted by the UK Government data breach, and Hong Kong nationals.
New statistics from the UK Government show the different routes people seeking asylum use to enter the UK.
According to the latest figures for the second quarter of 2025, about 57 per cent of those claiming asylum came through so-called irregular routes – mostly on small boats crossing the channel. This is the “illegal” entry that Farage is referring to, although if they claim asylum they have the right under international law to stay while their claim is assessed.
The percentage of asylum claims from people who came to the UK via irregular means reached a high of 80 per cent in the third quarter of 2021, but has hovered between 40 and 60 per cent over the last two years.
The rest of those who seek asylum travel to the UK legally with a visa and then make their claim on arrival. The figures are UK-wide and are not available for each region housing asylum seekers but it is likely that some of the 3,844 people who are in Glasgow came to the UK through regular means, and then claimed asylum.
Nigel Farage gets the number of people seeking asylum hosted in Glasgow close to correct, and it is accurate to say it is the local authority accommodating the highest number of claimants.
His claim that it is 50 per cent higher than the next highest area is not accurate: Glasgow has 39 per cent more than Birmingham.
He also states these people came to the UK “illegally”, which would not line up with latest statistics, which show between 40 and 60 per cent of asylum claimants enter the UK via regular routes, so could not be said to have arrived “illegally”.
Hundreds of protected areas are under pressure from Scotland’s massive deer herd. Most agree deer numbers must be controlled to protect the environment, but are split on what should be done.
Edinburgh University students were “interrogated” by police at their desks over posters featuring Palestinians killed by the Israeli military, prompting dozens to complain.
Unsafe levels of faecal bacteria were recorded at dozens of Scotland’s best beaches this summer. Swimmers and paddlers could be at risk, but officials insist water quality remains high.
Footage of farmed trout suffocating, haemorrhaging, and being beaten with batons in a slaughterhouse has prompted an official complaint to a government regulator.
