Fury as Home Office admits it spent £21,000 on guidance telling asylum seekers that rape is a crime

The Home Office today admitted it spent £21,635 of taxpayers' cash on guidance telling asylum seekers that rape is a crime.

The department revealed the full cost of preparing a controversial document titled 'Understanding behaviours and expectations in the UK: a guide for asylum seekers'.

The nine-page document, published in August, advises that rape, sex with someone under the age of 16 and domestic abuse are 'serious crimes'.

It also provides guidance on gender equality and respect in public, and is aimed at those migrants seeking to stay in the UK via the asylum system.

Home Office minister Anna Turley disclosed how much was spent on the guidance in answer to a written parliamentary question from Tory MP Neil Shastri-Hurst.

Dr Shastri-Hurst, a shadow health minister, said it was 'ludicrous' the sum was spent 'producing a publication that should never have been required in the first place'.

He had asked the Home Office to disclose the number of copies of the publication distributed to date, as well as the total cost of producing and publishing the guidance.

In reply, Ms Turley, the asylum minister, wrote: 'No physical materials have been printed, ordered or distributed and therefore no distribution costs have been incurred.

'The total cost of the development of the posters and the leaflets was £21,635.'

After receiving the response to his question, Dr Shastri-Hurst said: 'It is frankly ludicrous the Government has spent taxpayers' money on producing a publication that should never have been required in the first place.

'It is no wonder the public, quite rightly, are despairing at this Government's priorities.'

The Prime Minister in August defended the Government advice telling asylum seekers that rape and domestic abuse are serious crimes.

Andy Burnham said it was right to make it 'explicitly clear' what the UK's societal norms and laws are.

'As a Government, we have a very clear principle: if you break UK law, you will be removed from the country and we have seen that in relation to immigration, where removals are significantly up,' the PM said.

'I'm currently working to ensure that foreign national offenders who can be removed from the prison system are removed from that system.

'So it follows that if we're taking this approach, it's made explicitly clear what the UK law is and what the societal norms of the UK are, and that's why this approach is being taken.'

The document says it is to help 'understand what is expected of you when living in the UK' and the 'rules and expectations are not just for people seeking asylum, they apply to everyone living here'.

In the section titled 'sex and consent', the guidance tells asylum seekers that 'consent is needed in every situation'.

The guidance also covers gender equality, saying equal rights are 'an important part of UK culture… protected by law'.

It also calls for respect for others 'even if you disagree with their beliefs or how they live' and provides helplines for those affected by abuse.