Mary Cunneen, associate director of Liberty, says:

"It's good news - the basis for locking people up in Oakington is manifestly unfair. People should only be detained where there is an exceptionally good reason - and administrative convenience and blanket pre-judgements are not good enough.

"Government must not use detention as a knee-jerk reaction. Nor should detention be paraded as a promised 'cure for all ills' in the asylum system. That wilfully ignores the inefficiencies and bureaucratic inadequacies of a system in which asylum claims take months or years to resolve - a problem that's existed for years and has been consistently glossed over by Government.

"The whole basis of detention policy relating to asylum-seekers needs to be fairer, more rational and more transparent - and compliant with Article 5 of the European Convention on human rights and our other international human rights obligations".