Science Minister Pressed On Claim ‘Credulous Clerics’ And ‘Lefty Lawyers’ Undermining Asylum System
Science Minister Andrew Griffiths lambasted “credulous clerics” and “lefty lawyers” on Sky News after a revelation that Clapham chemical attacker Abdul Ezedi was granted asylum after converting to Christianity.
The Tory minister was interviewed by host Kay Burley on Wednesday and questioned about documents obtained by Sky News that exposed how Ezedi, despite his criminal background and illegal entry into the UK in 2016, was allowed to stay after a priest vouched for his conversion. Ezedi had previously been refused entry to the UK twice but the priest’s conversation testimony allowed him to overturn the second refusal decision in an appeal in 2020.
Ezedi went on to attack a woman and two children with an alkali substance in London, later throwing himself into the River Thames. The story has led to a reevaluation of asylum appeals involving religious conversion.
Burley: “[Ezedi] was given asylum here. He was made a Christian, baptised as a Christian. Before that, the Home Secretary [James Cleverly] had called lots of Anglican churches to see him to say that they need to be careful about the reputational risk to churches. Do you agree?”
Griffiths: “Yeah, the Home Secretary is absolutely right. We can’t run an asylum system based on credulous clerics and lefty lawyers. That is why we are fundamentally reforming it. People like the case you mentioned, we shouldn’t talk individuals, but people like that case should not be here. We want to get to a position where it’s very clear… If you come here illegally from a safe country. France is a safe country, it’s a fellow member of the G7, it’s a member of the European Union, it’s signed all of the same treaties to protect refugees that the UK has. So if you come here illegally, you will not be able to stay. And that would apply to this case as it would many other cases that people are concerned about. That’s the law that we’re trying to get through the House of Lords right now. We’re a couple of busloads of peers away in terms of the votes to be able to get that through the House of Lords. And then that will create the system that we want that would have prevented this tragic case.”
Burley: “OK. I won’t go into whether France is a safe country because, as you know, it’s…”
Griffiths: “I think it’s pretty safe. I mean, you know, interesting food, but pretty safe as a country.”
Burley: “I’m not going to get drawn down that line. I’m not going to get drawn down that line because, as you know, it’s not necessarily the country that they’re coming from. But I’m not going down that way because I want to press you on credulous clerics. Come on. Tell me.”
Griffiths: “Well, I mean, as we have seen in this case, this is somebody who should not, in my view, have been granted asylum. Ultimately, those are the matters for judges and the asylum tribunal. So they’re the ones that receive all of the facts. But, you know, the Home Secretary is right. There is a real concern about this.”
Griffith’s sharp critique underscores a broader debate on asylum policies and the government’s efforts to overhaul the system, including the controversial Safety of Rwanda Bill.
Meanwhile, the opposition has called for immediate answers from the Home Office regarding its failure to act on Ezedi’s case sooner, especially given his history of sexual offences.
Watch above on Sky News.
