Security minister Dan Jarvis has said the Government will not tolerate “covert and calculated” attempts by China to interfere with the UK’s sovereign affairs following an MI5 warning over spying threats.
MPs, peers and parliamentary staff were warned by the security service over suspected Chinese espionage via recruitment head-hunters on Tuesday.
Mr Jarvis told the House of Commons that MI5 has said China is attempting to “recruit and cultivate” individuals with access to sensitive information about Parliament and the UK Government, often masked through cover companies and head-hunters.
The Tories have pressed the Government to place China in the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme (Firs).
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage has backed Shabana Mahmood’s asylum crackdown after the home secretary told the Reform UK leader to “sod off”.
Mr Farage told a central London press conference on Tuesday: “Rhetorically we would agree with a lot of what the Home Secretary said.”
He also quipped it might have been a pitch by Ms Mahmood to be the “next defector” to his party.
Key Points
- Farage says Reform 'rhetorically' agrees with much of government's asylum overhaul
- Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson can 'sod off', Mahmood says
- Labour peer accuses Mahmood of 'using children as a weapon'
- Starmer facing backlash from Labour MPs over ‘cruel’ asylum reforms
- Home Secretary’s asylum reform plans explained
Labour peer who fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia 'depressed' by asylum crackdown
15:30 , Tara Cobham“I’m depressed” by the Home Secretary’s asylum system announcements, a Labour peer who fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia has said.
Former MP Lord Alf Dubs, who arrived in England on Kindertransport in 1939, told the BBC’s Today programme that Shabana Mahmood’s plans will “increase tensions in local communities, and will make this country less welcome, and we’ve traditionally been to welcome people who’ve come here fleeing for safety”.
“So I’m depressed by what’s happened yesterday”, the refugee campaigner added.
“I find it upsetting that we’ve got to adopt such a hard line – what we need is a bit of compassion in our politics, and I think that some of the measures were going in the wrong direction, they won’t help.
“The hard line approach will not, in fact, deter people from coming here – at least on the basis of people I spoke to in Calais, for example – I don’t think it will deter them.
“There are some some minor things in the proposal which will be okay but on the whole I think we’re going in the wrong direction – very much so.”
Recap: MPs receive warning from MI5 about Chinese espionage recruitment
15:15 , Bryony GoochSpeaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle wrote to parliamentarians on Tuesday to alert them to the “espionage alert” issued by MI5 highlighting how the Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) is trying to reach out to those in Westminster.
“Their aim is to collect information and lay the groundwork for long-term relationships, using professional networking sites, recruitment agents and consultants acting on their behalf,” he said.
The alert names two head-hunters, Amanda Qiu (BR-YR Executive Search) and Shirly Shen (Internship Union), who are both known to be using LinkedIn profiles to reach out on behalf of China’s MSS, the email said.
The MI5 alert details how the Chinese intelligence service may try to recruit a target.
The alert said: “The Chinese Ministry of State Security (MSS) seek to collect sensitive information on the UK to gain strategic advantage.
“Following recent examples of attempts to target UK Parliament for intelligence gathering, this espionage alert seeks to highlight typical MSS tradecraft and methodology from a specific group of highly active officers.”
Home Office ready to 'disrupt and degrade' against Chinese espionage
14:45 , Bryony GoochThe Government said it would robustly defend the UK’s national security and democracy.
Home Office minister Dan Jarvis said his department would “stand ready to … disrupt, degrade and protect against the dangerous and unrestrained offensive cyber ecosystem that China has allowed to take hold”.
Mr Jarvis said the recent Cyber Security and Resilience Bill would provide safeguards and he did not rule out sanctions as a penalty against those involved in spying.
MPs heard that China is the UK’s third largest trading partner as the minister said it was in the UK’s “long-term strategic interest” to trade and work with China on shared interests, including the environment, research and crime.
However, he added: “We will always, always, challenge any country, including China, that attempts to interfere, influence or undermine the integrity of our democratic institutions, and we will take all necessary measures to protect UK national security.
“That is why we have taken the action today and I am clear that further steps can absolutely be taken. Disrupting and deterring China’s espionage activity wherever it takes place, updating our security powers to keep pace with the threat, helping those who work in politics to recognise, resist and report the threat, and working with partners across the economy to strengthen their security against the threat.
“Our strategy is not just to co-operate. We will engage China where necessary, but we will always act to defend our interests and challenge where our values are threatened.”
'Perfectly reasonable' to pay migrant families denied asylum to return to home countries, Cabinet minister insists
14:30 , Tara CobhamIt is “perfectly reasonable” to pay migrant families who have been denied asylum in the UK to return to their home countries, a Cabinet minister has said.
Steve Reed would not be drawn on how much the Government might offer, telling Times Radio: “We will consult on that.”
The Housing Secretary continued: “I think it’s perfectly reasonable to give people financial support to make the journey back to their home.
“In the long run, it’s cheaper for the British taxpayer to do that.
“We need to look at the overall cost of the Tory asylum-seeking system that we inherited.”
Mr Reed stressed that families would not be separated as he defended the plans.
“We cannot have a system that incentivises people to put their children on boats like that. We know that we need more safe and legal routes so that families who have the right to come here and seek asylum can get into the country, but we can’t continue to allow incentives to exist that result in children drowning in the Channel.”
Iain Duncan Smith: China should be on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme
14:15 , Bryony GoochA list of threats posed by China makes a mockery of the country not being on the enhanced tier of the foreign influence registration scheme (Firs), a Conservative MP has said.
Former Conservative leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith, who is a co-chairman of the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, listed a series of ways Beijing has posed a risk.
Addressing ministers, he said: “Bringing forward this whole issue, the China espionage case, following on from the collapse spy case.
“Doesn’t he look back at this and think this is peculiar, because we’ve got Hong Kongers here in the UK now with bounties on their heads, threatened daily by China, dragged into illegal police stations, and then the minister talked about all the other things, threats to our democracy, threats to our industry, cyber threats, threats to our universities, and threats to our MPs, who are sanctioned and who daily have to face these challenges.
“Doesn’t that make a bit of a mockery of the idea that China is not a continuing threat and that they are not now in the upper tier of Firs?”
Security minister Dan Jarvis said the Government had announced a comprehensive set of measures, but there is a “willingness” to go further where required.
Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokeswoman Lisa Smart said her party welcomed the announcement as a “first step” but it is “not sufficient” by itself and called for the Government to reject plans for a new Chinese embassy near Tower Bridge.
Watch: Home Secretary sets out reforms to overhaul ‘unfair’ asylum system
14:00 , Tara CobhamFull story: Mahmood battles backlash from Labour MPs over asylum reforms
13:39 , Tara CobhamHome Secretary Shabana Mahmood is battling a Labour backlash over plans to “restore order and control” to the asylum system.
Labour backbenchers publicly condemned the “shameful” package, which is aimed at deterring migrants from seeking asylum in the UK and making it easier to remove people with no right to be in the country.
Allies of Ms Mahmood warned that “dark forces” would be unleashed if Labour does not respond to voters’ concerns and tackle the problem.
Read more here:
Mahmood battles backlash from Labour MPs over asylum reforms
'Every single' Labour MP elected on manifesto pledge to secure UK's borders, Reed says in defence of government
13:37 , Tara CobhamSteve Reed said “every single” Labour MP was elected on a manifesto that pledged to secure the UK’s borders as he defended the government’s asylum reforms amid a backlash from within the party.
Asked whether Labour backbenchers publicly criticising the plans should join the Green Party, the Cabinet minister told Sky News: “Absolutely not.
“Every single one of us who is a Labour MP was elected on the same manifesto, and that manifesto committed us now as a Government to securing our borders.
“It’s very important that we do that. The British people expect us to do that. But we also have to end this vile trade in human lives.”
Pressed on whether he was proud to be part of Sir Keir Starmer’s Government, Mr Reed said “absolutely”, and cited the salience of the migration issue on the doorstep.
Comment: Why the ECHR and its tone-deaf Strasbourg court need reining in
13:00 , Tara CobhamThere is a delicious irony that one of the principal midwives of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, was profoundly conservative, and later one of the most reactionary post-war Home Secretaries, leading opposition to the Wolfenden Inquiry’s proposal to decriminalise gay sex between consenting adults. Yet he played a central role in the fledgling Council of Europe, serving as rapporteur of the committee that drafted what became the ECHR, which came into force in 1953.
The apparent contradiction in Fyfe’s positions is less striking than it seems. The Convention was designed as a restatement of core liberties the British believed they already enjoyed, albeit uncodified and inchoate. Few on the left or right would quarrel with the Convention’s actual text. For many continental states, emerging from tyranny and occupation, its articles became a template for modern statements of rights. But the UK resisted incorporation for decades on a bipartisan basis. The argument was simple: we already had these rights, incorporation would be an unnecessary, continental import.
In early 1987, a courageous Conservative MP, Sir Edward Gardner QC, who had been my head of chambers at the Bar, introduced a Private Member’s Bill to incorporate the Convention into domestic law. It died immediately, opposed by both front benches.
Former home secretary Jack Straw writes:
Why the ECHR and its tone-deaf Strasbourg court need reining in
Labour peer says UK 'not as attractive a country to refugees as thought'
12:40 , Tara CobhamA Labour peer who escaped Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia has said he does not think the UK is “that attractive as a country, but people think we are”, in the wake of the Home Secretary’s announcements on the asylum system.
It was put to Lord Alf Dubs on the BBC’s Today programme that refugees want to come to the UK specifically.
The former Labour MP said: “If you go to south-east Europe, if you go to Greece, most people want to go to Germany, so there are different countries that are the most desired in terms of the safety that they will provide.
“I think we’re in danger of getting this the wrong way round, they are people who are fleeing for safety – I don’t think we’re that attractive as a country, but people think we are.”
He added that he does not believe the Government’s plans “will make enough of a difference”.
Lord Dubs added: “My particular fear is integration in local communities: If people are here temporarily, and people know they’re here temporarily, then the danger is that local people say, well, you’re only here for a bit, why should we help you to integrate? Why should your kids go to local schools? And so on.”
Zia Yusuf hits out at Labour plan to confiscate assets and jewellery off migrants
12:20 , Tara CobhamThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Zia Yusuf has hit out at Labour's plan to take assets off migrants to pay for their accommodation in the UK, dubbing it "entirely performative".
Speaking about the policy, Reform's head of policy said: "I put it to you that if Nigel Farage had sat at a press conference and announced that a Reform government would start taking jewellery away from people coming across from small boats, Lord only knows what would have happened. And I take great exception to that."
He added: "And also one of the points about that particular policy is my view is clearly entirely performative. I don't know who they think is coming across by small boats, not 50 Cent and Lil Wayne. And so therefore taking their gold chains away is not going to raise anything like enough money to make any dent on the asylum budget."
Asylum reform ‘must not come at the cost of compassion’, policing conference told
12:00 , Tara CobhamThe Independent’s crime correspondent Amy-Clare Martin reports:
Flags have become “tools of division” and “intimidation”, a major policing conference has been told.
Chairwoman of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners (APCC) Emily Spurrell told delegates in Westminster that flags are “sowing fear” and “fuelling division” as she warned asylum reform “must not come at the cost of compassion”.
Mr Spurrell said: “We all know our asylum system is struggling. It is slow, under-resourced, and in desperate need of reform. We’ve heard this week some of the plans the Home Secretary has to overhaul the system.
“Change must not come at the cost of compassion. We must never forget that behind every asylum claim is a human being, often in fear for their life.”
She also hit out at protesters who link immigration to the epidemic of violence against women and girls.
“Let’s be clear, to couch anti-immigration rhetoric in the language of protecting women and girls is not only misleading – it is offensive,” she added.
“The threat to women and girls is a national emergency – but it is not one that has been imported. It comes from within our communities, our homes, and too often, from those who should be there to love and protect us.”
Farage proposes swathe of cuts to plug black hole at the budget
11:45 , Tara CobhamThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Nigel Farage has announced plans to strip EU nationals of benefits, more than double the cost of the NHS surcharge for foreign nationals and cut foreign aid spending to just £1bn per year in a press conference in London.
The party's head of policy, Zia Yusuf, accused the chancellor of "treachery" for raising taxes while spending "extortionate amounts” on foreign nationals.
Mr Yusuf said the plan would save £25 billion this year, adding: "These are savings that Rachel Reeves could choose to make in her Budget that is coming up."
He added: “We urge her to make these changes and the fact that, despite us doing this press conference and our pleas, the likelihood she will choose not to do those things and instead choose to raise taxes on British people is because Labour is making the conscious and deliberate decision to continue funding extortionate amounts to foreign nationals, to the detriment of British citizens.
“And I don’t know what to call that. Frankly, I think it’s treachery.”
Women's safety campaigners warn asylum reforms will have 'devastating and life threatening' consequences
11:30 , Tara CobhamWomen’s safety campaigners have condemned the home secretary’s asylum reforms, warning they will have “devastating and life threatening consequences for women and children, particularly those trapped in cycles of abuse”.
In a joint statement, Southall Black Sisters Hibiscus, End Violence Against Women Coalition and Latin American Women’s Rights Service said the new measures will “further restrict women’s already limited ability to escape violence and exploitation”.
The statement continued: “We see, with painful clarity, that insecure immigration status is one of the strongest predictors of continued abuse, exploitation, and homelessness.
“When the state strips away human-rights protections, restricts family-life claims, renders refugees’ settlement temporary, and closes off safe routes to safety, the consequences fall most brutally on women and children who are already marginalised and least able to defend themselves.”
Explained: What are the changes in Mahmood’s asylum crackdown - and how serious is Labour backlash?
11:15 , Tara Cobham“If we fail to deal with this crisis, we will draw more people down a path that starts with anger and ends in hatred,” declared home secretary Shabana Mahmood, after her overhaul of asylum policy in the UK was unveiled.
Following days of speculation, the sweeping reform of the system was presented to MPs on Monday, with the measures set to make the country’s asylum rules among the toughest in Europe.
Ms Mahmood told the Commons it was the “uncomfortable truth” that the UK’s generous asylum offer was drawing people to its shores, and for British taxpayers the system “feels out of control and unfair”.
But Ms Mahood faces a significant backlash from Labour MPs on the plans - although enough Tory MPs offering to back the Bill would squash a backbench rebellion in a vote.
Alex Ross explains:
Key takeaways in Mahmood’s asylum crackdown - and how serious is Labour backlash?
Kemi Badenoch says Rachel Reeves should 'get the axe' if she increases taxes at the Budget
11:00 , Tara CobhamThe Independent’s political correspondent Caitlin Doherty reports:
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said that the chancellor should go if she increases taxes in the Budget at the end of this month.
Mrs Badenoch blamed increases in unemployment on Ms Reeves' previous decisions, and said that businesses are "giving up".
She told a press conference: "If she puts up tax, she should get the axe.
"What she said before the election is that she would not put up taxes on working people. She wouldn't tax income, she wouldn't tax all of the things which impacted working people.
"She broke that promise in the last Budget, and so many of the problems we are seeing now are because of the last Budget."
She added: "Unemployment has risen every single month since Labour came into office because of the jobs tax [...] We are taxing businesses so much now that they are are just giving up.
"If she comes back for more taxes without having serious cuts in public spending - especially on welfare - then she's going to ruin our economy."
Almost a quarter of Labour voters think Starmer should quit now, damning new poll shows
10:45 , Tara CobhamAlmost a quarter of Labour voters (23 per cent) think the prime minister should quit now and let the party elect a new leader, a new poll has shown, in a damning verdict on Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership.
A further 22 per cent think he should stand down at some point before the next election – meaning that in total almost half of all Labour voters want Sir Keir out of No 10 before the next election.
The YouGov survey of 2,100 people saw just a third (34 per cent) say he should continue to lead the Labour Party into a general election.
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Almost a quarter of Labour voters think Starmer should quit now, new poll shows
Farage says Reform 'rhetorically' agrees with much of government's asylum overhaul
10:28 , Tara CobhamNigel Farage said his Reform UK party would “rhetorically” agree with much of the government’s asylum overhaul.
The Reform UK leader told a central London press conference: “Despite her protestations, I thought a lot of what Shabana Mahmood said yesterday was driven directly by fear that Labour are losing votes to Reform.
“And rhetorically we would agree with a lot of what the Home Secretary said.”
He quipped it might have been a pitch by Ms Mahmood to be the “next defector” to Reform.
Mr Farage argued that despite the focus on illegal migration, “economically it is legal migration that is doing enormous damage to the British economy”.
UK's migration peak 40,000 higher than previously thought, new figures show
10:15 , Tara CobhamNet migration to the UK in recent years peaked at a slightly higher level than initially estimated and has since fallen more sharply, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Improved methods for estimating the number of UK and EU nationals entering and leaving the country, along with routine updates to data for non-EU nationals, suggest net migration hit a higher and slightly earlier peak of 944,000 in the year ending March 2023, compared with the previous estimate of 906,000 for the year ending June 2023.
This was followed by a sharper fall than initially reported, with net migration in the year ending December 2024 now estimated to be 345,000, lower than original estimate of 431,000 that was published by the ONS in May of this year.
Full story: Shabana Mahmood tells Nigel Farage to ‘sod off’ after invite to join Reform
10:01 , Tara CobhamShabana Mahmood has told Nigel Farage to “sod off” after he accused her of copying his policies on curbing illegal migration, even making a tongue in cheek offer to her to join his party.
The home secretary responded angrily to a series of jibes by the Reform leader in response to her controversial new proposals, telling Sky News: “Nigel Farage can sod off. I am not interested in anything he has to say.”
Ms Mahmood gave the same response when challenged about backing by far-right activist Tommy Robinson for her proposals, saying: “He can sod off too.”
The Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full story:
Shabana Mahmood tells Nigel Farage to ‘sod off’ after invite to join Reform
‘The narrative has been overtaken by far-right lies’: Readers weigh in on Labour’s asylum crackdown
09:45 , Tara CobhamLabour’s move to toughen Britain’s asylum rules has landed with a thud of uneasy acceptance among Independent readers.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has insisted the system is “broken” and in urgent need of order – and many commenters said Labour is simply confronting political realities that can’t be ignored any longer, even if the tone made some uncomfortable.
But that reluctant support was matched by flashes of frustration. A smaller, outspoken group fear the party is drifting too close to the Reform playbook, especially after the government revealed plans to overhaul human rights laws and change how the ECHR is interpreted to make deportations easier.
For these readers, proposals to limit rights to family life, speed up removals and even bar certain countries from UK visas risk validating the narratives Labour once resisted and chips away at the party’s values.
What united readers was not a single viewpoint, but a shared sense of wrestling with the trade-offs. Some saw the move by Labour as necessary reform, while others saw a worrying shift to the right – with many left wishing the choices weren’t quite so stark.
Here’s what you had to say:
‘Narrative of far-right lies’: Readers debate Labour’s asylum plans
Asylum proposals mark 'dangerous drift toward treating human rights as optional', Amnesty says
09:38 , Tara CobhamAmnesty International UK has condemned the government’s announcements on asylum reform, warning that the plans mark a “dangerous drift toward treating fundamental human rights as optional depending on who you are”.
Amnesty said the package represents a “historic weakening of refugee protection”, including turning refugee status into a temporary and precarious system, removing the state’s duty to support people who would otherwise be destitute, and signalling a new willingness to remove families even where children have grown up and put down roots in the UK.
The organisation warned that ministers are “undermining the European Convention on Human Rights while claiming they want to remain within it”. Amnesty said this “erodes respect for the UK’s human rights obligations and opens the door for future governments to withdraw from them completely”.
Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s Refugee and Migrant Rights Director, described this Labour government as “bowing to anti-immigrant, anti-rights politics instead of standing up for the basic principles that protect us all”.
He continued: “The moment a government decides that fundamental rights can be switched off for certain people, it crosses a dangerous line that should never be crossed. This is how universal protections begin to rot. Once you strip rights from one group, you hand licence to whoever comes next to strip them from others.
“This headline-chasing cruelty will not fix the immigration system. It will only fuel fear, worsen instability and give legitimacy to the most divisive politics. Anyone who cares about universal human rights needs to act now, because if rights aren’t upheld for everyone – especially those who lack public sympathy – then they are not rights at all, but mere concessions that those in power may permit or withhold as they please.”
Watch: Mahmood tells Farage to ‘sod off’ as she defends asylum reforms
09:15 , Tara CobhamMinister can't say whether failed asylum seekers who have children while in UK would be removed
09:00 , Tara CobhamThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
The housing secretary could not say whether failed asylum seekers who have children while they are in the UK would be removed.
"We're going to consult on the different circumstances that can happen", Steve Reed told BBC Radio 4's Today programme when asked whether they would be removed.
It comes after Labour peer Lord Dubs accused Shabana Mahmood of "using children as a weapon" in her sweeping asylum reforms.
Pressed on the specific circumstance of an asylum seeker who comes to the UK and has a child while in Britain, Mr Reed said: "I'm afraid you can't just generalise like that, because they could have married a British citizen, somebody who's already living here, and they want to be here, they want to put down roots, and they want to have children here."
He added: "You've got to take into account the individual circumstances."
Labour peer says 'hardline' asylum reforms will 'increase tensions in local communities'
08:45 , Tara CobhamThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Lord Dubs, a Labour peer who arrived in the UK as one of 600 Jewish children rescued from the Nazis, said the government's overhaul of the asylum system will "increase tensions in local communities" and will "make this country less welcome than we have traditionally been to welcome people who come here fleeing for safety".
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme he is "depressed" by yesterday's policy announcements, adding: "I find it upsetting that we've got to adopt such a hard line. What we need is a bit of compassion in our politics. And I think, I think that some of the measures are going in the wrong direction.
"They would help the hard line. The hard line approach will not, in fact, deter people from coming here, at least on the basis of people I've spoken to in Calais, for example."
Labour peer accuses Shabana Mahmood of 'using children as a weapon'
08:30 , Tara CobhamLord Dubs, a Labour peer who arrived in the UK as one of 600 Jewish children rescued from the Nazis, has accused the home secretary of "using children as a weapon" in her sweeping overhaul of the asylum system.
"When there are children who are on their own and who've got family in this country, then I think the right thing to do is to have family reunion and bring the children over here. But to use children as a weapon, as a home secretary is doing, I think is a shabby thing."
Asylum plans will 'lead to less cohesion and more destitution', Scottish social justice secretary says
08:17 , Tara CobhamThe UK Government’s proposed asylum system reforms will “lead to less community cohesion and destitution for more people”, the Scottish social justice secretary has said.
Speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “There does need to be reform, but what we have here are reforms that will actually lead to less community cohesion and destitution for more people, including those who actually have had their asylum process completed and granted.
“And that is deeply disappointing, because it seems to me that the Home Secretary is not just looking for stronger policies, but is pandering to Farage rather than actually having an asylum system that will work, both for those that are seeking asylum and indeed for the communities that are here in Scotland already established.”
She added: “What’s being suggested here is you can live here for 20 years, you can raise a family here, you can be contributing to your economy, to your society, and then you will be told to go back to where you came from.
“Is that seriously the type of society that we want to live in, uprooting families that are actually part of our communities? That doesn’t help integration and community cohesion, it actually panders to people who want to other those who come to Scotland.”
She also said that while there needs to be an asylum process, migration is “actually a good thing” for Scotland and that “anyone who works in health and social care, hospitality, agriculture, knows that we actually need more people in Scotland”.
Zia Yusuf says Shabana Mahmood can defect to Reform
08:04 , Athena StavrouThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Zia Yusuf has said Shabana Mahmood could defect to Reform UK after unveiling sweeping reforms to the asylum system which have been criticised by Labour MPs for going too far.
Amid growing allegations that the government is trying to mimic Nigel Farage's party, Reform's head of policy Zia Yusuf was asked whether Ms Mahmood would be welcome in the party.Responding, he told Sky News: "As Nigel said, she really believes it and who knows, maybe, Shabana Mahmood really does want to stop the boats.
“If she actually wants to do it then she can go to ReformParty.uk forward slash defection, she can fill out a form.”
'We were all elected on the same manifesto': Minister faces down Labour asylum rebels
07:45 , Athena StavrouThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Housing secretary Steve Reed has reminded Labour MPs that the manifesto they were elected on "committed us now as a government to securing our borders", amid growing opposition to Shabana Mahmood's sweeping asylum reforms.
Asked whether he thinks MPs who have been publicly critical of the reforms should go and join the Green Party, he told Sky News: "Absolutely not. Every single one of us who is a Labour MP was elected on the same manifesto, and that manifesto committed us now as a government to securing our borders."
The housing secretary added: "It's very important that we do that. The British people expect us to do that. But we also have to end this vile trade in human lives.
“We are seeing traffickers who are persuading sometimes very vulnerable people to get on boats on the beaches of France and risk their lives coming across the English Channel into the UK. We can't accept the level of danger and risk that is happening there. We've all seen some of those boats capsize, and we know what the results of that are.
“We need more safe routes that people can take to come into this country where they have a legitimate case to be here. But we we have to take action to stop this trade by the traffickers in human lives.”
Labour facing growing backlash from MPs over sweeping asylum reforms
07:22 , Athena StavrouThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
The government's sweeping asylum reforms, unveiled by Shabana Mahmood in the Commons on Monday, is facing growing backlash from Labour MPs, many of whom fear the government is chasing Reform votes.
Sarah Owen, chair of the women and equalities committee, labelled the policies “repugnant” while Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, said the changes were “performatively cruel”, adding: “It doesn’t have to be like this. There is a better way forward rooted in Labour values that also ensures control at our borders.”
Tony Vaughan, who was the first to publicly criticise the proposals, said ministers’ rhetoric “encourages the same culture of divisiveness that sees racism and abuse growing in our communities”, and warned: “We have taken the wrong turning.”
Tories leapt on Labour’s division, with Kemi Badenoch, making “a genuine offer” to help get the controversial measures passed by parliament, saying she suspected Labour MPs “will vote it down”.
Referring to the welfare rebellion and Sir Keir’s previous U-turn, she said: “From what I can see, his grip on the party has not got any stronger.”
What is the current size of the asylum backlog?
06:00 , Holly EvansThere were 90,812 people waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June 2025.
This is down 17 per cent from 109,536 at the end of March and down 24% from 118,882 a year earlier at the end of June 2024.
The total peaked at 175,457 at the end of June 2023, which was the highest figure since current records began in 2010.
The number of people waiting more than 12 months for an initial decision stood at 27,998 at the end of June, down from 40,773 at the end of March and well below the recent peak of 91,741 in June 2023.
Tommy Robinson backs Shabana Mahmood’s asylum reforms
05:00 , Holly EvansTommy Robinson has welcomed the government’s sweeping reforms to the asylum system, sparking concern from Labour backbenchers.
Shabana Mahmood is set to rewrite how Britain grants refuge to those fleeing conflict and upheaval with a statement in the House of Commons on Monday – an overhaul she insisted is needed because the “pace and scale of change destabilised communities”.
The Home Office has billed the reforms, inspired by a strict approach taken by Denmark, as being the “biggest changes to the asylum system in modern times”.
Read the full article here:
How many people claim asylum in the UK?
04:00 , Holly EvansA total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
The number is up 14 per cent from 97,107 in the year to June 2024, according to the latest available figures from the Home Office.
Migrants who arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in small boats accounted for 39 per cent of the total number of people claiming asylum in the year to June.
What is Denmark’s approach to asylum?
03:00 , Holly EvansThe Danish government drastically changed its migration system in response to a major influx of people throughout the 2010s. As a result, asylum seekers can only get temporary residence permits for one to two years.
– Residency is subject to regular review, and can be revoked once a refugee’s home country is deemed safe.
– Refugees are usually eligible for permanent status after eight years, and in order to get it they must speak fluent Danish and are required to have had a job for several years. There are also supplementary requirements, including “active citizenship”.
– People refused asylum must live in “departure centres”, a basic standard of accommodation designed to incentivise a voluntary return home.
– Family reunification is also subject to strict tests, including that both a sponsor and their partner must be over 24 years old, in a bid to prevent forced marriages.
– A controversial policy known as the “jewellery law” allows the Danish authorities to confiscate asylum seekers’ assets, including jewellery, to help fund the costs of their stay in Denmark. Assets of “special personal significance” should not be taken.
– The authorities are also able to demolish and sell social housing in areas where more than 50 per cent of residents are from a “non-western” background, under a so-called “ghetto law” designed to prevent the formation of “parallel societies”.
– The effect of Denmark’s policies has been to reduce the number of asylum applications to the lowest number in 40 years, and remove 95 per cent of rejected asylum seekers. It has however been criticised by some opponents as racist, and elements of it were previously found to have breached human rights law.
The Home Secretary’s asylum reform plans explained
02:00 , Holly EvansHome Secretary Shabana Mahmood has unveiled a new strategy to "restore order and control" to the UK’s asylum system, taking inspiration from Denmark.
The reforms, outlined in a 33-page document titled Restoring Order and Control published on Monday, are aimed to make Britain a less appealing destination for illegal migrants and to simplify their removal, Ms Mahmood informed MPs.
Here, we look at what is in the policy document outlining the government’s plans, and what is in the Danish system said to have inspired it.
Read the full article here:
The key points in the Home Secretary’s asylum reform plans explained
Why the ECHR and its tone-deaf Strasbourg court need reining in
01:00 , Holly EvansThere is a delicious irony that one of the principal midwives of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, was profoundly conservative, and later one of the most reactionary post-war Home Secretaries, leading opposition to the Wolfenden Inquiry’s proposal to decriminalise gay sex between consenting adults.
Yet he played a central role in the fledgling Council of Europe, serving as rapporteur of the committee that drafted what became the ECHR, which came into force in 1953. The apparent contradiction in Fyfe’s positions is less striking than it seems.
The Convention was designed as a restatement of core liberties the British believed they already enjoyed, albeit uncodified and inchoate. Few on the left or right would quarrel with the Convention’s actual text.
For many continental states, emerging from tyranny and occupation, its articles became a template for modern statements of rights. But the UK resisted incorporation for decades on a bipartisan basis. The argument was simple: we already had these rights, incorporation would be an unnecessary, continental import.
Read the full analysis from former home secretary Jack Straw here:
Why the ECHR and its tone-deaf Strasbourg court need reining in
Starmer facing backlash from Labour MPs over ‘cruel’ asylum reforms
00:00 , Holly EvansSir Keir Starmer and his home secretary are facing an angry backlash over their plans to toughen up Britain’s asylum system, with Labour MPs describing the new rules as “repugnant” and “performatively cruel”.
Shabana Mahmood unveiled a raft of hardline measures on Monday aimed at discouraging asylum seekers and making it easier to remove those who have no right to remain in the country.
The prime minister said the current system was not designed to cope with a “more volatile and insecure” world – but Ms Mahmood’s announcement went much further than many in Labour had feared and is already facing resistance from backbenchers.
Read the full article here:
Starmer facing backlash from Labour MPs over ‘cruel’ asylum reforms
Home secretary says differences to Reform policies are like 'night and day'
Monday 17 November 2025 23:00 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has rejected comparisons between the policies she has outlined today and Reform UK's stance on immigration, stating that they are like “night and day”.
She told Sky News: "I just do not accept that these are similar in any way. And that is because I think it is right that we move at the moment.
"Refugee status unlocks almost immediately automatic settlement. It is right that we move away from that process. It is right that we say to people, that if you arrive illegally in this country through a small boat, for example, that will be a difficult and long path to settlement in this country, and it will be regularly reviewed because we want to privilege people who come on a safe and legal route.
"It is the direct opposite of the 'oh, you know, draw up the drawbridge approach' that the Reform Party and others are taking.
"They're not interested in our international obligations of offering sanctuary to those most in need. I want to fulfil them."
New poll reveals almost half of voters want Starmer out by next election
Monday 17 November 2025 22:42 , Holly EvansA damning new poll has indicated that almost half of all Labour voters want Sir Keir Starmer out of Downing Street by the next election.
The YouGov survey of 2,100 people found that 23 per cent of Labour voters think the prime minister should quit now and allow the party to elect a new leader while a further 22 per cent think he should stand down at some point before the next election.
Only a third, or 34 per cent, think he should continue to lead the Labour Party into the contest.
The results come after a difficult week for No10 after they insisted that the prime minister would fight any plans to oust him, with anonymous briefings suggesting health secretary Wes Streeting planned to do so.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Starmer vowed that he would lead Labour into the next election and attacked the speculation around his future.
Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson can 'sod off', says Mahmood
Monday 17 November 2025 22:23 , Holly EvansThe home secretary has said that Nigel Farage can "sod off" because she's "not interested in anything he's got to say" when questioned about his response to her asylum policy.
While the Reform UK leader has said he is “undecided” on whether to support Shabana Mahmood’s plans, he remarked that it seemed as if she was “auditioning” for a place in his party.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Mahmood said: "I'm not going to let him live forever in my head.
"Just because he said something doesn't mean to say that I have to respond to it just because he's making mischief.
"The Reform Party currently has a policy to rip up indefinite leave to remain of those who have been long term settled in our country. That is immoral. It's deeply shameful, and it is the wrong policy."
Challenged about far-right activist Tommy Robinson's support for her reforms, the she responded: "He's a vile racist. He doesn't believe I'm English, and he hates Muslims. And I'm a very proud British and English Muslim.
"I honestly find it incredibly offensive that people quote me, a man who doesn't even think I belong in my own country.
"Frankly, he can sod off too."
Nigel Farage 'undecided' on whether to support Labour's asylum plans
Monday 17 November 2025 21:45 , Holly EvansReform UK leader Nigel Farage says he is "undecided" on whether to support Shabana Mahmood’s asylum plans.
He told reporters: "I welcome the home secretary’s language. It sounds like she is auditioning for Reform. But I’ve got some very serious doubts whether any of it will make a difference.”
He added that he supports the ideas - "the things like visa bans, using our muscle is absolutely right".
On whether his party will support the legislation when it comes forward, he said: "It’s a big decision."
"I want to because Mahmood is saying the right things, on the other, all the while the ECHR is there, the big elephant is there in the room, I begin to say to myself 'what’s the point?' So I am undecided at this stage," he said.
Is Mahmood right to use Trump’s playbook to curb small boats – or playing straight into Nigel Farage’s hands?
Monday 17 November 2025 21:30 , Holly EvansAre the wrong people applauding what the home secretary Shabana Mahmood calls the “most sweeping changes to our asylum system in a generation”?
Nigel Farage, perhaps a little mischievously, says that she “sounds like a Reform supporter”, albeit adding that the European Convention on Human Rights and her own unreliable backbenchers will thwart her plans.
In fact, Mahmood is talking about sanctions against certain countries – Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are named – that are reluctant to accept their returned citizens. And there is every reason to suppose that Mahmood will do what she has promised to do – “whatever it takes” as she presses on with her programme.
Read the full analysis from Sean O’Grady here:
Is Mahmood right to use Trump’s playbook to curb small boats?
Home Office figures show over 111,00 applied for asylum to June 2025
Monday 17 November 2025 21:10 , Holly EvansThe latest Home Office figures show 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025.
This is the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
A contributing factor has been the continued flow of small boats across the English Channel, with almost 40,000 people making the crossing so far in 2025.
Home Office 'exploring' whether asylum seekers could be subject to student loan style scheme
Monday 17 November 2025 20:50 , Holly EvansThe Commons Home Affairs Committee chairwoman has asked whether asylum seekers could pay back the UK’s “generosity” through a student loans-style scheme.
Dame Karen Bradley, the Conservative MP for Staffordshire Moorlands, asked whether the Government had considered “setting up a deferred payment scheme, much akin to the student loans scheme, so that people when they are granted asylum and are in work can start to pay back the generosity they’ve received”.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood replied: “It is something that we are currently exploring.
“It is not part of the package of measures today, but I’ll happily update the House in due course.”
People smuggler crackdown feels out of date, say Tories amid asylum overhaul
Monday 17 November 2025 20:30 , Holly EvansA move to combat people smugglers bringing migrants across the English Channel “feels out of date before it has even become law”, according to Tory critics as the Home Secretary unveiled plans to toughen up the asylum system.
Conservative frontbencher Lord Cameron of Lochiel made his comments as the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, cleared the House of Lords.
The third reading of the legislation coincided with Shabana Mahmood announcing reforms aimed at deterring illegal migration to the UK.
Outlining steps to tighten up the asylum rules, the Labour Cabinet minister said the current system was “out of control and unfair”.
Speaking as the legislation was given its third reading, Lord Cameron said: “We know that the Government are now bringing forward new measures relating to the asylum system.”
He added: “The point is that events have moved at such a pace that this Bill feels out of date before it has even become law.
“The Prime Minister’s ‘smash the gangs’ pledge has fallen so flat that the Government appear to have ditched the slogan. But as we have consistently said, simply going after the gangs will not work. What is required is a credible deterrent.”
Kemi Badenoch repeats offer to 'work with' the Conservatives
Monday 17 November 2025 20:13 , Holly EvansKemi Badenoch has said that Labour’s backbenchers are already lining up to block Shabana Mahmood’s asylum plan, and reiterated her offer to work with the Conservatives.
She said: “Without leaving the ECHR, Shabana Mahmood's plan won’t work. Parts of it may even take us backwards. She's proposed a few welcome steps, but they’re still baby steps.
“So here’s our offer: the country wants this sorted now. Sit down with us, drop the party politics, and let’s find a way of working together. Because her own MPs are already gearing up to block her.”
Without leaving the ECHR, Shabana Mahmood's plan won’t work. Parts of it may even take us backwards. She's proposed a few welcome steps, but they’re still baby steps.
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) November 17, 2025
So here’s our offer: the country wants this sorted now. Sit down with us, drop the party politics, and let’s…
Mahmood asks MPs not to continue mentioning Tommy Robinson
Monday 17 November 2025 19:58 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has asked MPs to not mention Tommy Robinson, stating that she finds it “very offensive”.
After an MP mentions the far-right activist, the home secretary responds: "I would just ask for people, please don't keep repeating the name of a man who doesn't even think I'm English.
"I find that very offensive and I would just ask everyone to refrain from doing so. We don't need to do that, and we do not need to go there. Don't fall for the mischief that others are making here.
Green Party leader calls on voters to 'Reject the hate'
Monday 17 November 2025 19:41 , Holly EvansThe leader of the Green Party has described Labour’s sweeping asylum changes as “cruel” and “callous”.
Zack Polanski wrote on social media: “Cruel. Callous. Cowardly. The public are seeing this Labour government for exactly who they are.
“We all have a responsibility to make them pay at the ballot box. Reject the hate. Reject them. This is not who we are.
“Let's make hope normal again.”
Cruel. Callous. Cowardly.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) November 17, 2025
The public are seeing this Labour government for exactly who they are.
We all have a responsibility to make them pay at the ballot box.
Reject the hate. Reject them.
This is not who we are. Let's make hope normal again.https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp https://t.co/ccKIOeqarg
Jeremy Corbyn accused Mahmood of trying 'to appease ghastly right-wing racist forces'
Monday 17 November 2025 19:32 , Holly EvansJeremy Corbyn has claimed that history will be a “harsh judge” on the government, and that Labour are trying to appease “the most ghastly right-wing racist forces”.
The former Labour leader said: “She [Mahmood] is instead trying to appease the most ghastly Right-wing racist forces all across Europe and by walking away from the European Convention on Human Rights, a convention created by the post-war Labour government.
“Does she not recognise that history is going to be a harsh judge on this Government for undermining the whole global humanitarian principles behind the ECHR and the universal declaration of human rights?”
Mahmood said she was “mystified” by Mr Corbyn’s question, and suggested he had not read the Home Office’s policies.
'Over my dead body' Mahmood responds over offer to join Reform
Monday 17 November 2025 19:09 , Holly EvansDanny Kruger, who defected to Reform in September from the Tories, has mockingly invited Shabana Mahmood to join the party.
The MP, who until September sat as a Tory MP, tells Shabana Mahmood that he "very much welcomes" her to put "in her application to join Reform" following her asylum reforms.
Noting that he failed to ask her a question, she responded: "As for his invitation to join his party, of whom there appear to be hardly any over there [on the benches of the Commons], let me tell him: over my dead body."
Green Party MP says policy is 'boosting far-right narrative'
Monday 17 November 2025 19:01 , Holly EvansA Green Party MP has accused Labour of trying to “out-Reform Reform” and boosting a “far-right narrative”.
Carla Denyer said: “It isn’t people seeking sanctuary that are tearing our country apart.
“It is toxic, racist narratives, and the scapegoating of migrants and asylum seekers for what is nothing to do with them.
“The chronic housing crisis, the running down of public services are not caused by migrants, they are caused by political decisions and by the grotesque inequality in this country.
“Does the secretary of state understand that attempting to out-Reform Reform is just boosting this far right narrative and will deepen divisions?”
Mahmood replied by suggesting that Green Party MPs are “hypocrites” for their comments in the Commons, but then “opposing accommodation in their own constituencies”.
Mahmood tells Labour critic: 'We will never seize jewellery'
Monday 17 November 2025 18:54 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has vowed the Government “never will seize people’s jewellery at the border”, as she faced a question from a Labour critic.
Sarah Owen, the Labour MP for Luton North, told the Commons: “I hope that we could all agree that a strong immigration system doesn’t have to be a cruel one. When the Tories painted over murals for refugee children, the numbers of small boat crossings still went up. When they threatened deportations to Rwanda, guess what, the crossings still went up.
“So what evidence does the Secretary of State have that taking personal belongings, such as jewellery from refugees and selling it off, actually works as a deterrent?”
The Home Secretary replied: “We are not taking jewellery at the border. I can’t say it any more clearly than that. She will know that the example I have used in my speech, the sort of case we’re going after, is those who have assets, those who have access to money and who can afford quite expensive cars, who should make a contribution to the cost of what is currently free asylum support.
“These two things are not the same, and I would urge her not to conflate the two. We will not – and never will – seize people’s jewellery at the border.
“We’re not going after their sentimental items like wedding rings and so on.”
Ms Owen had earlier written on the social media site Bluesky that “repugnant ‘deterrents’ did not work for the Tories, and they won’t work for” Labour.
Watch: Mahmood swears in Commons as she says she has been a victim of racial slurs
Monday 17 November 2025 18:53 , Holly EvansMahmood hits out at suggestion of Tommy Robinson's support
Monday 17 November 2025 18:49 , Holly EvansThe home secretary has rebuffed an accusation that her new policy has “found favour” with far-right activist Tommy Robinson, stating that he “doesn’t even think I am English”.
SNP MP Pete Wishart said: “In their manifesto, Labour promised to defend the rights of migrants and build an immigration system based on compassion and dignity.
“Instead we have a policy that is welcomed by Reform UK and that even found favour with Tommy Robinson.
“From throwing refugees into destitution to denying any meaningful route to citizenship, where is the compassion and dignity in that?”
Mahmood replied: “I can assure him that given that Tommy Robinson doesn’t even think I am English, he will certainly not be supporting anything I have got to say.
“We don’t need to hear any more about what vile racists have to say about anything.”
UK Border Force former director says he is not 'particularly optimistic' over plans
Monday 17 November 2025 18:40 , Holly EvansThe former director-general of UK Border Force has said he’s not “particularly optimistic” about the government’s plans to overhaul the asylum system.
Tony Smith, who worked for more than 40 years with the Home Office, told Times Radio: “The Tories tried quite hard with the Illegal Migration Act, the Safety of Rwanda Act, but we saw what happened. It took two or three years of challenges in the courts and the Lords, and they never got it off the ground. The same may well apply to this.
“I think there will be political opposition to this. There’ll certainly be opposition from community groups who think this is too harsh. Some on the left of the Labour Party won’t like it.”
He added: “Ultimately, I think it’s inevitable there will be challenges in the courts, which may slow this one up as well. So I’m afraid I can’t be particularly optimistic it’s going to solve the problem.”
ECHR Article 3 has 'expanded into the realm of the ridiculous', Mahmood says
Monday 17 November 2025 18:34 , Holly EvansThe European Convention on Human Rights is preventing the UK from deporting criminals to countries where the prison cells are too small, the Home Secretary has said.
Shabana Mahmood told the Commons the application of the definition of degrading treatment under Article Three of the ECHR has “expanded into the realm of the ridiculous”.
She said: “Today we have criminals we seek to deport but discover we cannot because the prisons in their home country have cells that are deemed too small, or even mental health provision that is not as good as our own.
“As Article Three is an absolute right, a public interest test cannot be applied.
“For that reason, we are seeking reform at the Council of Europe, and we do so alongside international partners who have raised similar concerns.”
Mahmood apologises for swearing in indignant response to Lib Dems
Monday 17 November 2025 18:28 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has issued an indignant response to Max Wilkinson MP from the Liberal Democrats, who suggested she was “stoking the public by using immoderate language”.
The home secretary said: “Unlike him, unfortunately I am the one who is regularly called a f****** P*** and told to go back home.
“I know through my own experience and the experience of my constituents just how divisive asylum has become in our country.”
“I wish I could pretend that it was not an issue. But this system is broken and it is incumbent on all members to acknowledge the real experience of people lived outside this House.”
She was asked to apologise by the Speaker for her “unacceptable language”.
