Sir 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.
The Folkestone and Hythe MP, Tony Vaughan, a former immigration lawyer, 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.”
Mr Vaughan said plans to review refugees’ status every few years would divert “huge amounts of resources away from making our asylum system work”.
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.”
Tories leapt on Labour’s division, with their leader, Kemi Badenoch, making “a genuine offer” to help get the controversial measures passed by parliament but she said 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.”
While many MPs appear resigned to the need for tough measures to counter the threat of Nigel Farage and Reform, there are concerns that Ms Mahmood’s changes – which have been endorsed by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, among others – go too far and will exacerbate divisions within communities.
The measures include:
The plans also reveal that Home Office officials are exploring overseas “return hubs” to house asylum seekers who have had their claims rejected and all appeals exhausted, a move that echoes the Tories’ much-criticised Rwanda policy.
Ms Mahmood rejected parallels with “the failed Rwanda system” but during her statement was constantly pressured by Labour MPs over the measures. At one point she apologised for quoting racist language that had been used against her, but she insisted: “I know the British people do not want to close the doors, but until we restore order and control, those who seek to divide us will grow stronger. It is our job as a Labour government to unite where there is division.”
The plans are outlined in a document entitled “Restoring Order and Control” that sets out ways to overhaul the asylum system.
A number of Syrian people have been supported to return to their home country voluntarily since the collapse last December of the Assad regime, the document said.
“We are now exploring resuming enforced returns to countries where we have not routinely carried out such removals in recent years, including to Syria,” it said.
Families with children could also be subject to enforced returns under the measures, and the government is launching a consultation on how that should be done.
The document noted that 700 Albanians who do not have the right to be in the UK have managed to stay because of the right to being united with their families.
Anger among Labour MPs adds to the pressure on Sir Keir, who is preparing for next week’s crunch Budget. Health secretary Wes Streeting, who was subject to a briefing attack from Downing Street last week, energy secretary Ed Miliband and the former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner are all believed to be preparing for a possible leadership contest. Another name in the mix is Ms Mahmood, who is being seen as the champion of the right of the party.
But even before the statement, a number on the left of the party spoke out against the asylum measures. Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome called them “dystopian”, saying: “The government should be ashamed that its migration policies are being cheered on by Tommy Robinson and Reform. Instead of standing up to anti-migrant hate, this is laying the foundations for the far-right. I question the home secretary on how she can be proposing such obviously cruel policies.”
