'There are still too many holes in Labour's migration plan for it to succeed,' says Nana Akua

Here’s Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s latest pitch to the nation: "On Monday, I will announce the most significant changes to our asylum system in modern times.

"Today, I want to tell you why. Across Europe, asylum claims are falling, but in Britain they are rising. In the last four years, 400,000 people have claimed asylum here. Over 100,000 are housed and supported at taxpayers’ expense, putting huge pressure on local communities."

This morning, she was asked on Sky News whether she had been panicked into adopting a “racist” system i.e., the Danish model, which she is looking to implement.

She said: "I reject that entirely. I am the child of immigrants. My parents came to this country legally in the late 60s and early 70s, and this is a moral mission for me.

"I can see that illegal migration is creating division across our country. I can see that it is polarising communities, dividing people, and making them estranged from one another. I don’t want to stand back and watch that happen in my country.

"What is happening with our illegal migration system is that it is broken. It’s not right-wing talking points, fake news, or misinformation suggesting that we have a problem.

"I know because I have seen this system inside out. It is broken, and we have a genuine problem to fix.

"People are angry about something real, and it is my job to come up with a proper solution to this very real problem.”

Great answer. She is effectively signalling a crackdown on illegal immigration, and she mentioned following the Danish model, which has acted as a deterrent and significantly reduced illegal crossings.

However, unless Article Three of the ECHR protection from persecution and Article Eight the right to a family life are removed from the equation, the Danish system or any similar model won’t work here.

Mrs Mahmood also fails to acknowledge that the Danish system works because Denmark has third-party agreements including, ironically, with Rwanda, which the Labour Party branded a gimmick.

As much as one might want to believe Shabana Mahmood means business, there are still too many holes in the plan for it to succeed.