Nigel Farage admits 'serious doubts' as Shabana Mahmood 'auditions to join Reform' with migrant crackdown

Shabana Mahmood unveils asylum overhaul with new one-shot appeals system and faster removals

Shabana Mahmood has unveiled sweeping asylum overhauls with faster removals as she faces a rebellion from her own backbenchers.

The Home Secretary said the UK was targeted by people "asylum shopping" around Europe as she faced the prospect of a backbench revolt to plans to toughen up the system.

The appeals system will be replaced with a "one shot" single-appeal model, which aims to speed up the process.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

What were the key policies announced today?

• Cutting the time refugees are initially granted to stay in the UK, from five years to a 30-month "core protection" system, which can only be renewed if it is not safe for them to return.
• Refugees will have to spend 20 years in the UK before being allowed to apply for settled status, up from five years.
• There will be no automatic right to family reunion for refugees under core protection.
• Housing and weekly allowances will no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers, and those who can work or have assets will have to contribute to their costs in the UK.
• Families with children could also be subject to enforced returns under measures to remove failed asylum seekers, and the Government is launching a consultation on how that should be done.
• Syrians with no right to be in the UK could potentially be forcibly returned home following the collapse of Bashar Assad’s regime, under plans being considered by the Government.

Reform UK MP invites Shabana Mahmood to join his party

A Reform UK MP has invited Shabana Mahmood to join Nigel Farage's party, saying he "welcomes" and "recognises" the Home Secretary's rhetoric.

East Wiltshire MP Danny Kruger told the Commons: "Before she puts in her application to join Reform UK...can I draw out the difference between our parties?"

Mr Kruger, who defected from the Tories earlier this year, said Reform do not want to "contort our law to comply with or fit into the European Convention on Human Rights."

The Home Secretary said Mr Kruger did not actually ask her a question and on joining Reform UK: "Over my dead body."

Government pressed on possible 'student-loan' scheme for asylum seekers

The Commons Home Affairs Committee chairwoman has asked whether asylum seekers could pay back the UK’s "generosity" through a student loans-style scheme.

Conservative MP for Staffordshire Moorlands Dame Karen Bradley, asked if 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.”

WATCH: Shabana Mahmood issues scathing response to former Green leader as she blasts party as 'hypocrites'

Shabana Mahmood rejects concerns Government will 'seize people's jewellery at the border'

Shabana Mahmood has vowed the Government "never will seize people’s jewellery at the border", as she faced a question from a Labour critic.

Labour MP for Luton North Sarah Owen 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."

Greens accuse Labour of 'boosting far-right narrative'

A Green Party MP has suggested Labour are trying to "out-Reform Reform" as she accused Labour of "boosting the far-right narrative."

Former party co-leader and Bristol Central MP 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?"

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood replied by suggesting that Green Party MPs are "hypocrites" for talking "great language" in the House and then "opposing accommodation in their own constituencies."

Shabana Mahmood blasts Tommy Robinson as 'vile racist'

Shabana Mahmood has slammed Tommy Robinson as a "vile racist", adding she did not want to "hear any more" about him.

SNP MP for Perth and Kinross-shire Pete Wishart told the Commons: "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?"

The Home Secretary responded: "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."

Father of the House suggests Shabana Mahmood is 'conservative' 

The longest serving male MP has joked Shabana Mahmood is a "conservative".

Sir Edward Leigh, who has served as the Conservative MP for Gainsborough since 1983, told the House: "On these benches, we generally wish her well, otherwise the country, in her own words, will start falling apart.

"It’s a good effort – seven out of 10. She clearly has strong conservative instincts."

Jeremy Corbyn blasts Labour of having 'no moral compass' 

Jeremy Corbyn has accused his former party of having "no moral compass" as the Islington North MP launched a scathing attack on Labour.

The Your Party co-leader said: "Removing asylum support. Seizing belongings. Deporting entire families, including children.

"Labour are not just paving the path to a Reform government. Reform may as well already be in power.

"This government has no moral compass, and it should be ashamed of its inhumanity."

Kemi Badenoch lashes out at heckling MPs as she responds to Shabana Mahmood's asylum overhaul

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has hit back at heckling Labour MPs, stating she "won't take any lectures" from them as she spoke in the Commons.

The leader of the opposition has praised Shabana Mahmood for her "fresh ideas" and said she "wants her to succeed" in her mission to tackle illegal immigration.

Shabana Mahmood shoots down Kemi Badenoch's suggestion to work together 

Shabana Mahmood has shot down Kemi Badenoch's proposal to work together over today's asylum reforms.

She said: "We will not be taking any lessons from those opposite [the Tories] on how to run an effective migration system or indeed an asylum system, because I'm afraid to say to the leader of the opposition knows that her party, in government, gave up on governing altogether.

"I will take no lessons from anyone opposite on anything to do with our asylum system, because they simply gave up and went for an expensive gimmick [the Rwanda scheme] that cost £700million to return four volunteers, and was doomed to failure from the start.

"So forgive me if I don't take this newfound conversion to working together in the national interest with much seriousness, because their own track record suggests it should not be taken seriously."

Shabana Mahmood accused of 'stoking the country' 

The Liberal Democrats have accused Labour of "stoking the public by using immoderate language."

The party's Home Affairs Spokesman Max Wilkinson said: "Acknowledging the challenges facing our nation is one thing, but stoking the country by using immoderate language is quite another."

Ms Mahmood replied: "I know just how divisive the issue of asylum has become in this country.

"Unlike him, unfortunately I am the one who is regularly called a f*****g 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.

"Removals are up by 23 per cent in the first 18 months. That is a Government that is getting on with the job.”

WATCH: Shabana Mahmood lays out asylum reforms

Kemi Badenoch suggests Labour's reforms do not go far enough

Kemi Badenoch warned any issues Labour's asylum reforms are "doomed to fail" as she suggested today's announcement does not go far enough.

The Conservative Leader said: "On this side of the House, we believe that anybody who comes here illegally should be deported.”

Kemi Badenoch warns Labour is living in 'La La Land'

Kemi Badenoch has suggested her Conservative Party 'will not take lectures' on Labour, as she blasted the Government as living in "La La Land."

The Tory leader said: "Anyone who cannot see by now the simply tinkering with the current system isn't going to fix this problem is either living in la la land, or being wilfully obstructive.

"It is a shame that it has taken Labour a year in office to realise there is a border crisis. I am afraid to tell her the what she is announcing is not going to work on its own, and some of these measures will in fact take us backwards.

"I say that to her with no ill will, and I hope she believes me when I say I genuinely want her to succeed."

"[We] are not going to take any lectures from the people who voted down every single measure to control immigration".

Kemi Badenoch up in the Commons as she blasts changes as 'not enough'

Kemi Badenoch is up in the Commons now to provide a response to Shabana Mahmood's announcement.

The Conservative Leader said: "It’s not enough, but it is a start. I want to praise the Home Secretary. She is bringing a new energy to the job.

"She seems to get what many on the benches behind refuse to say. She's right to say that 'if we fail to deal with this crisis, we will draw more people to a path that starts with anger and ends in hatred'."

Shabana Mahmood announces penalties on non-compliant countries

Shabana Mahmood confirmed penalties would be brought in on countries do not comply with the return of illegal immigrants such as Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Namibia.

The Home Secretary told the Commons: "Reducing the number of arrivals is just half the story. We must also remove those who have no right to be here.

"In recent months we have begun voluntary removals of failed asylum seekers to Syria."

Refugees could be forced to return to Syria as part of asylum reforms

Refugees may be forced to return to countries such as Syria as part of asylum reforms to make refugee status in the UK temporary.

The plans are outlined in a Government document "Restoring Order and Control" detailing ways to overhaul the asylum system.

The policy document said should there be a regime change in a refugee’s home country, the UK’s approach should change too.

A number of Syrian people have been supported to return to their home country on a voluntary basis since the end 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.

Shabana Mahmood says migrant crisis has 'destabilised communities

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has claimed the current number of people arriving in the UK has "destabilised communities" and made the country "a more divided place".

She told The Commons: "There will never be a justification for the violence and racism of a minority.

"But if we fail to deal with this crisis, we will draw more people down a path that starts with anger and ends in hatred."

Refugees who arrive illegally to wait two decades before permanent residence

The Home Secretary has announced refugees arriving illegally will have to wait up to 20 years before they qualify for permanent residence,

Ms Mahmood said the new threshold will be four times the current timeframe of five years.

Shabana Mahmood says current system is 'out of control and unfair'

The Home Secretary has said the current system is "out of control and unfair."

Shabana Mahmood told The Commons: "The burden that has fallen on this country has been heavy. 400,000 have sought asylum here in the last four years.

"Over 100,000 people now live in asylum accommodation, and over half of refugees remain on benefits eight years after they have arrived.

"To the British public who foot the bill, the system feels out of control and unfair."

Shabana Mahmood up in the Commons to announce sweeping asylum reforms

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is up in the Commons present asylum plans to MPs in the Commons

Zack Polanski blasts 'cruel callous cowardly' asylum reforms

Zack Polanski has called on voters to "reject" Labour as he blasted today's asylum reforms as "cruel, callous [and] cowardly."

The Green Party Leader was reacting to reports Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood plans to ramp up deportations of refugee families, including those with children.

Mr Polanski said: "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."

Downing Street insists asylum seekers won't have 'sentimental jewellery' seized

Downing Street has insisted they will not take "sentimental jewellery" off incoming asylum seekers.

A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: "It's right that if people have money in their bank accounts, or e-bikes, they should be contributing to the cost of taxpayer accommodation.

"We will not seize items of jewellery at the border, and we will not take sentimental pieces."

However, an enormous amount of gold would be counted as an asset and not something of sentimental value, it is understood.

Asked why taxpayers should contribute at all if some asylum seekers do have valuable items on them, the spokesperson responded: "The system is currently seen as unfair.

"It's about addressing the unfairness and striking a balance."

WATCH: Mark White delivers damning verdict on Labour’s migration crackdown: 'This could amount to nothing!'

GB News Home and Security editor Mark White has warned that Labour’s new migration crackdown risks "amounting to nothing" as the Government faces growing pressure from within its own ranks.

A number of backbench MPs have already publicly rebelled against the Home Secretary’s sweeping plans to overhaul the UK’s asylum system.

The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is preparing to rewrite major parts of Britain’s asylum framework, including the way the European Convention on Human Rights is interpreted by UK judges.

Labour backbencher slams asylum reforms as 'morally bankrupt and politically disasterous'

A Labour backbencher has condemned Shabana Mahmood’s asylum plans as "morally bankrupt and politically disastrous", suggesting the Government is pandering to Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson (real name Stephen Yaxley-Lennon).

Liverpool West Derby MP Ian Byrne said: "Today, the Government will make yet another desperate bid to outflank Reform on asylum seekers.

"We’ve drifted far from the PM’s promise of 'compassion and dignity', towards policies dragged from the moral abyss and applauded by far-right figures like Farage & Yaxley-Lennon.

"It’s morally bankrupt and politically disastrous - our party won’t win voters back this way.

"Those who’ve left have turned to progressive parties, and those who’ve stayed will be appalled by these latest attacks on people fleeing war and persecution."

Rachel Reeves's raid on pensions set to be 'biggest tax hit in decades' as YOU could lose £214k to HMRC

Labour's inheritance tax raid (IHT) on pension pots could cost you £214,000, representing the "biggest tax hit in decades", analysts warn.

Financial specialists have warned that planned reforms to IHT rules for retirement savings unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last year could deliver an unprecedented financial blow to countless British households.

During last year's Budget, Ms Reeves confirmed plans to bring pension savings into the inheritance tax net starting in April 2027, ending their current exemption status.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.

The Home Secretary has 'shown some guts', but the 'spell of open borders is not so easily broken' argues Carole Malone

GB News contributor Carole Malone has welcomed today's asylum reforms but issued a warning to the Labour government.

Writing for GB News members, Carole said: "[Mahmood] is dead right, and currently she appears to be the only person in Government who sees what’s happening and is fighting to do something about it.

"But we’re told that her latest moves to control illegal immigration are being thwarted by Labour MPs and Leftie lawyers who are determined to turn Britain into a dosshouse for the world’s poorest."

GB NEWS MEMBERS CAN READ CAROLE'S FULL ANALYSIS HERE.

Labour accused of 'performative cruelty' over asylum reforms

Labour has been accused of "performative cruelty" over today's asylum reforms.

Plaid Cymru's leader at Westminster, Liz Saville Roberts MP said: "With this announcement, Labour is bowing to the populist right, enabling Nigel Farage’s agenda by trading principles for lazy soundbites.

"Their proposals will punish people who have already endured unimaginable hardship. To confiscate personal belongings and leave families in bureaucratic limbo for up to 20 years is neither necessary nor just.

"Clear rules and controls are necessary. But rules without humanity corrode trust and fuel division. The measure of a civilised country is not how many people it turns away, but how it treats the most vulnerable.

"Plaid Cymru will reject performative cruelty. We stand for decency, fairness, and compassion. That is vital if we are to keep communities safe, maintain trust in systems, and uphold our values."

Kemi Badenoch backs Labour on planned asylum reforms 

Kemi Badenoch has offered Conservative support for the Government’s asylum reforms amid opposition from Labour backbenchers.

The Conservative leader said: "What we are seeing from the Labour Government is steps in the right direction, so we want to encourage them in that right direction.

"Of course, we have a fully comprehensive borders plan. Some of what we have seen Labour announce is similar but not as much as what we have done.

"We can see that their Labour backbenchers don’t like this, so I have offered that we will support the Government in going in the right direction."

No10 denies Government is 'talking the language of Reform' on plans to overhaul asylum system 

The Prime Minister's official spokesman has denied the Government is "talking the language of Reform" over its plans to reform the asylum system.

When questioned on the suggestion, the spokesman replied: "No, we are talking the language of dealing with an asylum system that is in chaos."

"We are responding to the mandate we have been given and the public can tell that the pace and scale of illegal migration is out of control, unfair and placing huge pressure on communities," he said.

"And the Prime Minister wants to fix the chaos in the asylum system so we can move away from division and decline and build a Britain for all."

'Don't stick to status quo!' Borders minister issues stark warning to Labour MPs over asylum crackdown mutiny 

Borders minister Alex Norris has handed Labour MPs a stark warning to toe the party line on the Government's freshly-announced asylum reforms.

The MP for Nottingham North and Kimberley, told GB News he plans to "listen closely" to colleagues and ask them "not to defend a status quo that isn't working for anyone".

Speaking to the People's Channel, Mr Norris dismissed claims from some Labour MPs the Government’s new immigration plans are racist, saying: "Well, I know what they want. And again, I think it's what your viewers want as well.

"They want an ordered system where people don't come irregularly, where people don't jump the queue, meaning that those who have legitimate asylum claims aren't able to get them processed swiftly and on with their lives."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Home Secretary 'sounds as though she is putting application to join Reform' over asylum system reform, says Richard Tice 

Richard Tice said the Home Secretary is "beginning to sound as though she is putting an application for vetting to join Reform" over her planned asylum system reform.

Speaking at a press conference today, the deputy Reform leader said: "The reality is, however well intentioned the Home Secretary is, a) she has not got the support and confidence of her own party, but b) while still being a member of the European Convention on Human Rights and still having the Human Right Act in its current form, she just won't be able to deliver what she is talking about.

"I do think it is slightly ironic - if we had said two months ago in our Party conference what she said over the weekend, we would have been called all sorts of nasty, beastly names.

'I'm sure she is well intentioned, but I don't think it will amount to a row of beads."

Special educational needs system 'in crisis' as children with neurodiverse issues 'over-diagnosed', says Richard Tice 

Richard Tice said Britain's special educational needs and disabilities (Send) is "in crisis" and referred to an "over-diagnosis" of children with neurodiverse issues.

The MP for Boston and Skegness said: "What is going on is that Send is in crisis and I have been specifically asked by council officers, directors of services, to tell it how it is.

"We all want the very best provision for the most deserving, I reiterate that absolutely, but there is a crisis of over-diagnosis of children with neurodiverse issues.

"You can come up with all sorts of new labels but when you hear that EHCPs (educational health and care plans) are three times the level they were eight to 10 years ago and that they are increasing in many councils now by between eight to 10 per cent a year, you say 'hang on, our beloved children are not 10 per cent more in need every single year'. Basic common sense tells you that."

Reform will 'urgently bring in major reforms' to save local councils from bankruptcy - Richard Tice

Richard Tice is delivering a speech where he is laying out the next steps of Reform's Doge (Department of Government Efficiency) unit.

The deputy Reform leader said: "Within four or five years, almost 50 per cent of councils will be basically bankrupt."

"The direction of travel is very bad indeed. It doesn't need to be this way but fundamental change is required," he added.

"What we are identifying is yes, we can save money in a number of areas, but there are other ares where actually there is a change of regulations and statues that are required.

"If this Government doesn't do it, then a Reform Government, after the next General Election, will urgently bring in major reforms to local Government in order to achieve this."

First Minister John Swinney claims push for talks with PM ahead of Budget were rejected 

Sir Keir Starmer’s team has rejected a request to meet with John Swinney this week ahead of the Budget, the First Minister has claimed.

Mr Swinney is due to head to London this week, taking part in an event related to Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ upcoming statement to the Commons.

But writing in the Daily Record today, the First Minister said his push for talks with the Prime Minister Sir Keir ahead of the Budget had been rejected, as he accused the UK Government of treating Scotland like "an afterthought".

"I am heading to London on Wednesday ahead of the Budget and I asked to meet Keir Starmer to be clear on what people in Scotland expect him to deliver," he said.

"I was told he was not available to meet me."

Suella Braverman 'wishes Home Secretary well' in asylum system plan but says 'out of touch' Labour Party will 'never accept' reforms 

Suella Braverman has said the "out of touch" Labour Party will "never accept" Shabana Mahmood's planned overhaul of the asylum system.

The Conservative MP wrote in a post to X: "I don’t care who stops the boats and neither do the British people.

"I wish the Home Secretary well. But I’ve seen first hand others talk tough on illegal immigration without actually wanting to get anything done.

"One problem the Home Secretary has is an out of touch Labour Party that will never accept her plans.

"Throw in Blair’s Human Rights Act and the ECHR and these reforms will sadly amount to nothing. The only solution is scrapping both."

Labour's planned asylum system overhaul 'doesn't help society' - MP

Labour MP Tony Vaughan KC has said the Government’s asylum system overhaul "doesn’t help society".

He said that while he "totally agrees" with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that the Government must regain the public's trust on Britain's asylum system, the proposed reforms were "taking the wrong turn".

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: "I mean, a particular problem that I have is around the idea that we should be trying to kick refugees out despite having granted them protection.

"I think the idea is that we review their status after two and a half years on a kind of rolling basis, so then hopefully at some point their countries will be safe and we can deport them. I think that is completely the wrong position in principle.

"We need to be making sure that if the system has decided, applying the immigration controls, that somebody should be granted asylum, we should be welcoming and integrating and not creating this situation of kind of perpetual limbo and alienation, which doesn’t help the refugees and it doesn’t help society."

Labour MP slams asylum reforms as 'antithesis of what party is about' 

In response to Shabana Mahmood's immigration reforms set to be announced later today, Labour MP Rachael Maskell told Times Radio: "The dehumanisation of people in desperation is the antithesis of what the Labour Party is about."

She added: "Instead of the Labour leadership chasing Reform, the very people who took us out of the Dublin Agreement, they should commence a proper process for developing an evidence-based policy, upholding our historic reputation for advancing the human rights."

Borders minister insists Labour is not chasing Reform voters with asylum system reforms

Borders minister, Alex Norris, has insisted Labour is not chasing Reform UK voters with its new asylum policy.

He told BBC Breakfast: "The one thing I can assure you is that political considerations don’t come into this.

"We’re the Government of the country. We get out of bed every day to do our best by the people of this country.

"We know people are fed-up. We know people don’t want to see people coming in an uncontrolled way."

WATCH: Matt Vickers says 'everything going the wrong way' on illegal migration under Labour Government 

Minister urges Labour backbenchers to wait for asylum announcement amid backlash on plans

The borders minister has urged Labour backbenchers to wait for the Home Secretary’s asylum announcement later on Monday amid an outcry from some MPs.

Asked about opposition from backbenchers, Alex Norris told Times Radio: "I respect my colleagues and their views.

"I know they want what we want, which is a safe system where people don’t make dangerous journeys. They want a system that is controlled, that has the confidence of the British public."

Asked about accusations that the policy was racist, he said: "I disagree with that characterisation.

"Of course, they have not seen the package yet and I ask them to look at it closely. I know they will."