Emma Reynolds, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, has urged caution over a whistleblower’s claim that only 1% of asylum claims received by the Home Office are genuine with fraud and dysfunction widespread in the system.

She told GB News: “We are cracking down on this. And you know what is perhaps a surprising figure to you and your viewers is that under the Conservative government, the previous government, 77% of asylum claims were successful under our government in the last two years. Only 38% have been successful.

“I’m not going to comment on anonymous leaks, but what I will say is urge a little bit of caution here. This is one person’s view of what’s going on. We have also employed 300 additional case workers to get through the backlog.”

She added: “You’re putting a lot of store in one person.

“We are doing something about it. Net migration is down. We’ve returned 80,000 people, which is a 10-year record high, with people who don’t have a right to be here.

“We have employed hundreds of additional caseworkers who are highly trained, who will know all the tricks that is revealed in this article.

“There’d be no surprise to them. So I will reassure you and your viewers that the government takes this issue very seriously, and we’re making positive progress, but obviously there is more to do.”

Asked about the anti-migrant protests in Portsmouth, she said: “There’s two things going on here. Firstly, I would say that I support people’s right to peaceful protest, but some of the behaviour that we saw in Portsmouth and in Dover crossed the line.

“It was intimidation. It was thuggery. But obviously, there are people with legitimate concerns about immigration, and the government is addressing those concerns, and we are making progress.

“So, the numbers of people that have come over this year are 43% down on boats than last year. But as you say, the people smugglers are shifting their tactics to the Western French beaches, as a result, in a partnership with the French authorities and French government. Obviously, we are shifting our focus and resources too.”