The government is facing criticism from its own MPs after home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced new plans to overhaul the UK’s asylum system.
On Monday, Mahmood announced plans to reform the asylum system, with the aim of making it easier to deport people and more difficult for asylum seekers to stay in the UK long-term.
In a statement to the Commons on Monday afternoon, the home secretary is expected to announce
- Those granted asylum will have to wait 20 years before they can apply to settle permanently
- Asylum seekers will also have their refugee status reviewed every two-and-a-half years, rather than five, and will be returned if their home country is deemed safe
- People will be restricted to one appeal to their asylum status, and will be deported if this fails
- The government will change the way the European Convention on Human Rights is interpreted by UK judges in a bid to stop asylum seekers using their rights to a family life to avoid deportation
- A ban on three countries – Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo – from accessing UK visas if they fail to take back illegal migrants.
However, the plans have sparked anger from some Labour MPs, who have labelled the measures ‘performatively cruel’ and accused the government of chasing Reform.
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Kent MP and former immigration lawyer Tony Vaughan has said the’ rhetoric from the government and ministers “encourages the same culture of divisiveness that sees racism and abuse growing in our communities.”
Other backbenchers have backed this assessment, the Independent reports. One said the policy was “incoherent”, whilst another warned the “performative cruelty” would undermine efforts to solve problems in the immigration system.
Accusing the ministers of “chasing Reform,” Labou MP Rachael Maskell told Times Radio: “The dehumanisation of people in desperation is the antithesis of what the Labour Party is about.
“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.”
Meanwhile, Labour MP Stella Creasy called for “common sense and compassion on asylum,” saying there is a “better way forward rooted in Labour values.”
Writing in the Guardian, the Walthamstow MP said the “brutal” asylum reforms would only achieve “ICE-styel raids on Britain’s streets.”
The BBC reports that some ministers have raised concerns about the plans in private, with Mahmood having met with groups of Labour MPs in recent weeks to the “persuasive moral case for reform”.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, borders minister Alex Norris denied claims Labour was chasing Reform voters with the plans.
He said: “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.”