The tie-up, announced in May, will create a banking giant with millions of customers and about £89 billion worth of assets.

The total covers all Home Office asylum costs, including direct cash support and accommodation, plus wider staffing and other related migration and border activity. The figure doe ...

Just 42,500 applications have been approved since July, when the Government said almost 900,000 households were missing out on the benefit.

“While remaining high by historic standards, net migration is now beginning to fall and is provisionally down 20% in the 12 months to June 2024. Over that period we have seen a fall in immigration, ...