AN SNP MP has launched a Bill in Westminster seeking to give asylum-seekers the right to work. 

Glasgow West MP Carol Monaghan is looking to overturn a ban on those coming to Britain from working while they await a Home Office decision. 

Those seeking asylum are currently only able to apply for the right to work after they have been waiting for a decision for over a year. 

Those then granted such permission are rarely able to work because their employment is restricted to the Tory government’s shortage occupation list.

Many of those seeking refugee status are living on just £5.39 a day while they wait months or years for a decision on their asylum claim. 

If passed, Ms Monaghan’s Asylum-Seekers (Permission to Work) Bill would overturn the ban, and grant permission to work to asylum-seekers who have waited six months for a decision on their asylum application.

Ms Monaghan said: “It cannot be right that some of the most vulnerable people in our society are left languishing in poverty, while they wait many months or years for the Home Office to make an asylum decision.

“People who have risked everything to find safety in the UK should have the best chance of contributing to our society and integrating into our communities. They should be able to use their skills to live in dignity.”

A report by Lift the Ban Coalition found that 71 per cent of British people agree that people seeking asylum should be allowed to work. 

Ms Monaghan said that the Tory government’s toxic hostile environment has created a situation where employers are left short staffed and asylum-seekers are prevented from working.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We must ensure that immigration policy is not undermined by introducing a route by which migrants could bypass work visa rules.

 “Currently, asylum seekers are allowed to work in the UK if their claim has been outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own. They are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List, which is based on expert advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee.

 “The New Plan for Immigration will fix our broken asylum system and reduce pressure on the system to bring application waiting times down.”