The UK could suspend visas from countries that do not "play ball" and agree to returns deals for migrants, Shabana Mahmood has said.
The new Home Secretary made the comment as she met counterparts from the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance for talks on international efforts to tackle smuggling gangs.
Ms Mahmood, the MP for Birmingham Ladywood, also announced she will not be running for Deputy Leader of the Labour Party following the resignation of Angela Rayner.
Some 1,097 people arrived in the UK in 17 boats on Saturday, bringing the total in 2025 so far to 30,100, a record for this point in a year.
The UK could make the ultimatum with other countries
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When asked about the likelihood of visa cuts, Ms Mahmood said: "For countries that do not play ball, we've been talking about how we can take much more coordinated action between the Five Eyes countries.
"For us, that means including possibly, the cutting of visas in the future.
"Just to say, you know, we do expect countries to play ball, play by the rules.
"And if one of your citizens has no right to be in our country, you do need to take them back."
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Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced she would not stand to succeed Angela Rayner | GETTYMahmood said the numbers were "utterly unacceptable" and that she expected migrant returns under a deal agreed last month with France to begin "imminently."
She continued: "I'm very clear that there has to be a strong approach to maintaining our border.
"And that does mean saying to countries who do not take their citizens back that we're not simply going to allow our laws to remain unenforced.
"That they do have to play ball, they have to come to the table. Cutting visas is one of the ways to do that."
She also announced the Government will “come forward with changes” to how the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is implemented in the UK, the Home Secretary has said.
Mahmood once again said that under Labour, the UK would not be leaving the convention as this would have “other consequences that we think are not in our national interest”.
But she said the Government saw "the case for reform primarily in our domestic legal framework, tightening up the rules."
She said: "In the end, this is about how you strike the balance between human rights, on the one hand, and securing our borders. I do think that that balance isn’t in the right place at the moment.
"That’s why we will come forward with changes to our domestic legislation and the guidance in terms of how we apply some of the convention rights legally here at home."