News Update – 10 July 2026
This week’s most significant legal development is the Royal Assent given on 8 July to the National Security (State Threats) Bill. It introduces proscription-like powers enabling the Home Secretary to designate foreign state organisations and their proxies engaged in hostile activity on UK soil.
The legislation, fast-tracked following recent antisemitic attacks, criminalises expressing support for a designated group and makes it an offence to assist or receive payment from one. It builds on the National Security Act 2023 and carries sentences of up to 14 years for those convicted. For practitioners, the key point of interest is the carve-out preserving lawful engagement for diplomatic, humanitarian, journalistic and charitable purposes, which will require careful advice for clients whose work brings them into contact with designated entities or their networks.
The unresolved case of Shabir Ahmed, the Rochdale grooming gang ringleader, continues to dominate the immigration and deportation debate. Ahmed was released last week after serving 14 years of a 22-year sentence, but a loophole in the Immigration Act 1971 currently prevents his removal, as the provision exempts individuals who arrived in the UK before 1973 and have since accumulated five years’ residence.
The Home Secretary is expected to announce amendments to close this gap next week, while taking care not to disturb the settled status of Commonwealth citizens, including the Windrush generation, who fall within the same historic cohort. Despite this, Whitehall sources indicate that Pakistan is unlikely to accept Ahmed’s return even once the law changes, reportedly because it is seeking the extradition of two UK-based political dissidents in exchange, a demand the Government has ruled out.
Downing Street has confirmed that discussions with Pakistan Government remain ongoing, while the Conservative opposition has pushed for amendments to the Immigration and Asylum Bill to close the loophole directly, with the shadow Home Secretary floating the possibility of foreign aid cuts to any state that declines to accept its own nationals. This indeed shall prove to be a very critical curve in the deportation cases in the future.
On asylum policy, the “one in, one out” returns arrangement with France has drawn renewed scrutiny after an asylum seeker who benefited from the scheme’s legal entry route publicly questioned its fairness. Under the arrangement, one small boat arrival is returned to France in exchange for the legal transfer of another asylum seeker to the UK, and the individual concerned has highlighted the arbitrary nature of who is selected for return versus admission. This is a good moment for advisers to keep a close watch on how selection criteria under the scheme are applied in practice, given the potential for judicial review challenges where decision-making appears inconsistent or opaque.
Finally, employers are being urged to prepare for significant changes to right to work compliance ahead of an October implementation date. The updated code of practice will extend mandatory right to work checks to gig economy, zero-hours and agency workers, individual subcontractors, and platforms matching freelancers with clients, closing a long-standing gap in the current framework.
Non-compliance will attract civil penalties of up to £60,000 per worker, alongside criminal liability of up to five years’ imprisonment in serious cases. Digital verification through Government-registered providers will also become a requirement. Immigration lawyers have described this as a fundamental shift from an employment-law issue to a supply chain and workforce risk issue, particularly for sectors such as construction, food delivery, courier services and warehousing that rely heavily on flexible labour models. Businesses operating multi-tiered contracting arrangements will need to establish visibility over every individual engaged down the supply chain, and organisations would be well advised to begin auditing their workforce structures now, rather than waiting for the reforms to take effect. Keep an eye out for a Right to Work session, coming soon.
With immigration law changing at pace, as this week’s developments in security legislation, deportation rules and right to work compliance make plain, having a dependable point of reference has never mattered more.
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For the full list of updates on media news SEE BELOW
News
UK defences strengthened against foreign state-backed groups -UKVI
New powers are now in place for the Home Secretary to crack down on groups carrying out hostile activity on behalf of foreign states. Receiving Royal Assent on 8th July, the landmark National Security (State Threats) Bill delivers on the Government’s commitment to bring in new proscription-like powers to protect against state threats and its promise to fast track legislation after the recent wave of abhorrent antisemitic attacks. To view the full article, visit here
Shabana Mahmood will change law to allow Rochdale grooming gang leader’s deportation – The Independent
The Home Secretary is poised to amend a decades-old law to allow the deportation of a Rochdale grooming gang leader who was released from prison last week. Shabana Mahmood is expected to outline plans on Monday to change a 1971 statute that currently prevents the removal of Shabir Ahmed, 73, from the UK, according to reports. To view the full article, visit here
8 and 9-year-olds now eligible to use eGates – UKVI
Accompanied children aged 8 and above can now use UK eGates, meaning speedier and smoother journeys for millions of families. To view the full article, visit here
Asylum seeker in UK as part of ‘one in, one out’ scheme says it is unfair on those deported – The Guardian
An asylum seeker brought to the UK by the Home Office has said it feels unjust that he was allowed into the country only because someone else was deported. The individual benefited from the “one in” part of the controversial “one in, one out” scheme, where one asylum seeker who reached the UK on a small boat is forcibly returned to France in exchange for another being brought legally to Britain. To view the full article, visit here
Jamaican man who has lived in UK for 26 years facing deportation – The Guardian
A Jamaican man who has lived more than half his life in the UK is facing deportation to his home country in one of the first cases since new anti-immigration measures were announced in last week’s immigration bill. To view the full article, visit here
A £2million people smuggling gang recycled the identities of a dead man and a British soldier to sneak hundreds of illegal immigrants into Britain – Mail Online
A man obtained genuine travel documents belonging to people with lawful status in Britain, replaced their photographs with those of paying customers and devised complex routes intended to evade immigration controls. Travellers were coached on which passport to produce at each airport, drivers were sent to collect them when they landed, and many were placed in gang safe houses. To view the full article, visit here
Right to work checks to become mandatory for gig economy employers – People Management
Employers of gig economy and agency workers will soon be required to conduct right to work checks, the Government has confirmed. The reforms are laid out in an updated code of practice intended to prevent illegal working and are set to come into effect on 1st October. They will extend the legal requirement to confirm eligibility to work in the UK to cover gig, zero-hours and agency workers and individual subcontractors for the first time. To view the full article, visit here
Case Law
Secretary of State for the Home Department v Lewis [2026] EWCA Civ 879
The Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling that had blocked the deportation of a Dominican national with serious drug convictions. It found that the lower tribunals had wrongly treated his hope of reconnecting with a son he had not seen in six years, along with his mental health and lack of support in Dominica, as “very compelling circumstances” outweighing the public interest in deportation, without properly applying the required legal tests under sections 117B and 117C(6) of the 2002 Act. To read the full decision, visit here
Safe Passage International & Ors, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWHC 1705 (Admin)
The Administrative Court has dismissed a consolidated triple judicial review challenge to the Home Secretary’s suspension of the dedicated refugee family reunion route, in a judgement that narrows the reach of the public sector equality duty over changes to the Immigration Rules. To read the full decision, visit here
Blue Inn Limited, R (on the application of) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2026] EWHC 1649 (Admin)
The High Court has quashed the Home Office’s decision to revoke Blue Inn Ltd’s sponsor licence, ruling it was procedurally unfair. The Home Office effectively suspected the company of dishonesty (supplying sponsored workers as labour to third parties, faking a genuine vacancy, and underpaying an employee) but never said so clearly or gave it a proper chance to respond and when Blue Inn provided letters from clients that seemed to answer the concerns. The Home Office rejected them without asking any follow-up questions it should have asked. The case now reverted to the Home Office to review their initial decision. To read the full decision, visit here
Home Office Guidance and Policy Updates
Collection Migration analysis at the Home Office has been updated on 9th July 2026. To view the analysis, visit here
Guidance: UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme has been updated on 2nd December 2025. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Guidance: Borders, immigration and citizenship -privacy information notice has been updated on 14th January 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Summary collection of the current Immigration Rules has been updated on 1st July 2026. To view the updated Guidance, visit here
Immigration and Asylum Bill Explanatory note to the Bill (released on 30th June 2026), prepared by the Home Office, are published separately as Bill 105—EN. To view the Explanatory Note, visit here
Written by Shareen Khan- Legal Content Writer, HJT Training
Disclaimer: This blog post is intended for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Immigration advisors should consult the full decisions and official policy documents when advising clients on specific cases.