Campaigners in bid to defeat boroughs’ appeal

Campaigners for asylum seekers’ rights protest outside the Court
of Appeal where a bid by the London Boroughs of Hammersmith &
Fulham, Westminster and Lambeth and the Department of Health to
overturn a High Court ruling was due to be heard this week.

High Court judges ruled in October 1996 that under the National
Assistance Act 1948, local authorities had a duty to provide food
and shelter for single asylum seekers who had lost entitlement to
benefits through the Asylum and Immigration Act 1996.