The home secretary has been accused of “chasing Reform” as she faces backlash from Labour MPs over her sweeping asylum reforms.
Shabana Mahmood's plans, which will see the government overhaul human rights laws in a bid to ramp up deportations, have been labelled “repugnant” by her colleagues on the backbenches.
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.”
Stroud MP Simon Opher said Labour should “stop the scapegoating of immigrants because it’s wrong and cruel” adding “we should push back on the racist agenda of Reform rather than echo it”.
Mahmood has outlined a raft of radical measures, including how the government will attempt to 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.
Families with children will also be subjected to enforced returns if they refuse financial support offered to them by the government to return to their home country, if their asylum application has failed.
Key Points
- Starmer facing backlash from Labour MPs over ‘cruel’ asylum reforms
- The Home Secretary’s asylum reform plans explained
- Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson can 'sod off', says Mahmood
- Mahmood swears in Commons as she says she has been a victim of racial slurs - video
Labour peer accuses Shabana Mahmood of 'using children as a weapon'
08:30 , Tara CobhamLord Dubs, a Labour peer who arrived in the UK as one of 600 Jewish children rescued from the Nazis, has accused the home secretary of "using children as a weapon" in her sweeping overhaul of the asylum system.
"When there are children who are on their own and who've got family in this country, then I think the right thing to do is to have family reunion and bring the children over here. But to use children as a weapon, as a home secretary is doing, I think is a shabby thing."
Asylum plans will 'lead to less cohesion and more destitution', Scottish social justice secretary says
08:17 , Tara CobhamThe UK Government’s proposed asylum system reforms will “lead to less community cohesion and destitution for more people”, the Scottish social justice secretary has said.
Speaking on BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme, Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “There does need to be reform, but what we have here are reforms that will actually lead to less community cohesion and destitution for more people, including those who actually have had their asylum process completed and granted.
“And that is deeply disappointing, because it seems to me that the Home Secretary is not just looking for stronger policies, but is pandering to Farage rather than actually having an asylum system that will work, both for those that are seeking asylum and indeed for the communities that are here in Scotland already established.”
She added: “What’s being suggested here is you can live here for 20 years, you can raise a family here, you can be contributing to your economy, to your society, and then you will be told to go back to where you came from.
“Is that seriously the type of society that we want to live in, uprooting families that are actually part of our communities? That doesn’t help integration and community cohesion, it actually panders to people who want to other those who come to Scotland.”
She also said that while there needs to be an asylum process, migration is “actually a good thing” for Scotland and that “anyone who works in health and social care, hospitality, agriculture, knows that we actually need more people in Scotland”.
Zia Yusuf says Shabana Mahmood can defect to Reform
08:04 , Athena StavrouThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Zia Yusuf has said Shabana Mahmood could defect to Reform UK after unveiling sweeping reforms to the asylum system which have been criticised by Labour MPs for going too far.
Amid growing allegations that the government is trying to mimic Nigel Farage's party, Reform's head of policy Zia Yusuf was asked whether Ms Mahmood would be welcome in the party.Responding, he told Sky News: "As Nigel said, she really believes it and who knows, maybe, Shabana Mahmood really does want to stop the boats.
“If she actually wants to do it then she can go to ReformParty.uk forward slash defection, she can fill out a form.”
'We were all elected on the same manifesto': Minister faces down Labour asylum rebels
07:45 , Athena StavrouThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
Housing secretary Steve Reed has reminded Labour MPs that the manifesto they were elected on "committed us now as a government to securing our borders", amid growing opposition to Shabana Mahmood's sweeping asylum reforms.
Asked whether he thinks MPs who have been publicly critical of the reforms should go and join the Green Party, he told Sky News: "Absolutely not. Every single one of us who is a Labour MP was elected on the same manifesto, and that manifesto committed us now as a government to securing our borders."
The housing secretary added: "It's very important that we do that. The British people expect us to do that. But we also have to end this vile trade in human lives.
“We are seeing traffickers who are persuading sometimes very vulnerable people to get on boats on the beaches of France and risk their lives coming across the English Channel into the UK. We can't accept the level of danger and risk that is happening there. We've all seen some of those boats capsize, and we know what the results of that are.
“We need more safe routes that people can take to come into this country where they have a legitimate case to be here. But we we have to take action to stop this trade by the traffickers in human lives.”
Labour facing growing backlash from MPs over sweeping asylum reforms
07:22 , Athena StavrouThe Independent’s political correspondent Millie Cooke reports:
The government's sweeping asylum reforms, unveiled by Shabana Mahmood in the Commons on Monday, is facing growing backlash from Labour MPs, many of whom fear the government is chasing Reform votes.
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.”
Tony Vaughan, who was the first to publicly criticise the proposals, 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.”
Tories leapt on Labour’s division, with Kemi Badenoch, making “a genuine offer” to help get the controversial measures passed by parliament, saying 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.”
What is the current size of the asylum backlog?
06:00 , Holly EvansThere were 90,812 people waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of June 2025.
This is down 17 per cent from 109,536 at the end of March and down 24% from 118,882 a year earlier at the end of June 2024.
The total peaked at 175,457 at the end of June 2023, which was the highest figure since current records began in 2010.
The number of people waiting more than 12 months for an initial decision stood at 27,998 at the end of June, down from 40,773 at the end of March and well below the recent peak of 91,741 in June 2023.
Tommy Robinson backs Shabana Mahmood’s asylum reforms
05:00 , Holly EvansTommy Robinson has welcomed the government’s sweeping reforms to the asylum system, sparking concern from Labour backbenchers.
Shabana Mahmood is set to rewrite how Britain grants refuge to those fleeing conflict and upheaval with a statement in the House of Commons on Monday – an overhaul she insisted is needed because the “pace and scale of change destabilised communities”.
The Home Office has billed the reforms, inspired by a strict approach taken by Denmark, as being the “biggest changes to the asylum system in modern times”.
Read the full article here:
Tommy Robinson backs Shabana Mahmood’s asylum reforms
How many people claim asylum in the UK?
04:00 , Holly EvansA total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
The number is up 14 per cent from 97,107 in the year to June 2024, according to the latest available figures from the Home Office.
Migrants who arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in small boats accounted for 39 per cent of the total number of people claiming asylum in the year to June.
What is Denmark’s approach to asylum?
03:00 , Holly EvansThe Danish government drastically changed its migration system in response to a major influx of people throughout the 2010s. As a result, asylum seekers can only get temporary residence permits for one to two years.
– Residency is subject to regular review, and can be revoked once a refugee’s home country is deemed safe.
– Refugees are usually eligible for permanent status after eight years, and in order to get it they must speak fluent Danish and are required to have had a job for several years. There are also supplementary requirements, including “active citizenship”.
– People refused asylum must live in “departure centres”, a basic standard of accommodation designed to incentivise a voluntary return home.
– Family reunification is also subject to strict tests, including that both a sponsor and their partner must be over 24 years old, in a bid to prevent forced marriages.
– A controversial policy known as the “jewellery law” allows the Danish authorities to confiscate asylum seekers’ assets, including jewellery, to help fund the costs of their stay in Denmark. Assets of “special personal significance” should not be taken.
– The authorities are also able to demolish and sell social housing in areas where more than 50 per cent of residents are from a “non-western” background, under a so-called “ghetto law” designed to prevent the formation of “parallel societies”.
– The effect of Denmark’s policies has been to reduce the number of asylum applications to the lowest number in 40 years, and remove 95 per cent of rejected asylum seekers. It has however been criticised by some opponents as racist, and elements of it were previously found to have breached human rights law.
The Home Secretary’s asylum reform plans explained
02:00 , Holly EvansHome Secretary Shabana Mahmood has unveiled a new strategy to "restore order and control" to the UK’s asylum system, taking inspiration from Denmark.
The reforms, outlined in a 33-page document titled Restoring Order and Control published on Monday, are aimed to make Britain a less appealing destination for illegal migrants and to simplify their removal, Ms Mahmood informed MPs.
Here, we look at what is in the policy document outlining the government’s plans, and what is in the Danish system said to have inspired it.
Read the full article here:
The key points in the Home Secretary’s asylum reform plans explained
Why the ECHR and its tone-deaf Strasbourg court need reining in
01:00 , Holly EvansThere is a delicious irony that one of the principal midwives of the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), Sir David Maxwell Fyfe, was profoundly conservative, and later one of the most reactionary post-war Home Secretaries, leading opposition to the Wolfenden Inquiry’s proposal to decriminalise gay sex between consenting adults.
Yet he played a central role in the fledgling Council of Europe, serving as rapporteur of the committee that drafted what became the ECHR, which came into force in 1953. The apparent contradiction in Fyfe’s positions is less striking than it seems.
The Convention was designed as a restatement of core liberties the British believed they already enjoyed, albeit uncodified and inchoate. Few on the left or right would quarrel with the Convention’s actual text.
For many continental states, emerging from tyranny and occupation, its articles became a template for modern statements of rights. But the UK resisted incorporation for decades on a bipartisan basis. The argument was simple: we already had these rights, incorporation would be an unnecessary, continental import.
Read the full analysis from former home secretary Jack Straw here:
Why the ECHR and its tone-deaf Strasbourg court need reining in
Starmer facing backlash from Labour MPs over ‘cruel’ asylum reforms
00:00 , Holly EvansSir 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.
Read the full article here:
Starmer facing backlash from Labour MPs over ‘cruel’ asylum reforms
Home secretary says differences to Reform policies are like 'night and day'
Monday 17 November 2025 23:00 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has rejected comparisons between the policies she has outlined today and Reform UK's stance on immigration, stating that they are like “night and day”.
She told Sky News: "I just do not accept that these are similar in any way. And that is because I think it is right that we move at the moment.
"Refugee status unlocks almost immediately automatic settlement. It is right that we move away from that process. It is right that we say to people, that if you arrive illegally in this country through a small boat, for example, that will be a difficult and long path to settlement in this country, and it will be regularly reviewed because we want to privilege people who come on a safe and legal route.
"It is the direct opposite of the 'oh, you know, draw up the drawbridge approach' that the Reform Party and others are taking.
"They're not interested in our international obligations of offering sanctuary to those most in need. I want to fulfil them."
New poll reveals almost half of voters want Starmer out by next election
Monday 17 November 2025 22:42 , Holly EvansA damning new poll has indicated that almost half of all Labour voters want Sir Keir Starmer out of Downing Street by the next election.
The YouGov survey of 2,100 people found that 23 per cent of Labour voters think the prime minister should quit now and allow the party to elect a new leader while a further 22 per cent think he should stand down at some point before the next election.
Only a third, or 34 per cent, think he should continue to lead the Labour Party into the contest.
The results come after a difficult week for No10 after they insisted that the prime minister would fight any plans to oust him, with anonymous briefings suggesting health secretary Wes Streeting planned to do so.
In an interview with the Daily Mirror, Starmer vowed that he would lead Labour into the next election and attacked the speculation around his future.
Nigel Farage and Tommy Robinson can 'sod off', says Mahmood
Monday 17 November 2025 22:23 , Holly EvansThe home secretary has said that Nigel Farage can "sod off" because she's "not interested in anything he's got to say" when questioned about his response to her asylum policy.
While the Reform UK leader has said he is “undecided” on whether to support Shabana Mahmood’s plans, he remarked that it seemed as if she was “auditioning” for a place in his party.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Mahmood said: "I'm not going to let him live forever in my head.
"Just because he said something doesn't mean to say that I have to respond to it just because he's making mischief.
"The Reform Party currently has a policy to rip up indefinite leave to remain of those who have been long term settled in our country. That is immoral. It's deeply shameful, and it is the wrong policy."
Challenged about far-right activist Tommy Robinson's support for her reforms, the she responded: "He's a vile racist. He doesn't believe I'm English, and he hates Muslims. And I'm a very proud British and English Muslim.
"I honestly find it incredibly offensive that people quote me, a man who doesn't even think I belong in my own country.
"Frankly, he can sod off too."
Nigel Farage 'undecided' on whether to support Labour's asylum plans
Monday 17 November 2025 21:45 , Holly EvansReform UK leader Nigel Farage says he is "undecided" on whether to support Shabana Mahmood’s asylum plans.
He told reporters: "I welcome the home secretary’s language. It sounds like she is auditioning for Reform. But I’ve got some very serious doubts whether any of it will make a difference.”
He added that he supports the ideas - "the things like visa bans, using our muscle is absolutely right".
On whether his party will support the legislation when it comes forward, he said: "It’s a big decision."
"I want to because Mahmood is saying the right things, on the other, all the while the ECHR is there, the big elephant is there in the room, I begin to say to myself 'what’s the point?' So I am undecided at this stage," he said.
Is Mahmood right to use Trump’s playbook to curb small boats – or playing straight into Nigel Farage’s hands?
Monday 17 November 2025 21:30 , Holly EvansAre the wrong people applauding what the home secretary Shabana Mahmood calls the “most sweeping changes to our asylum system in a generation”?
Nigel Farage, perhaps a little mischievously, says that she “sounds like a Reform supporter”, albeit adding that the European Convention on Human Rights and her own unreliable backbenchers will thwart her plans.
In fact, Mahmood is talking about sanctions against certain countries – Angola, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo are named – that are reluctant to accept their returned citizens. And there is every reason to suppose that Mahmood will do what she has promised to do – “whatever it takes” as she presses on with her programme.
Read the full analysis from Sean O’Grady here:
Is Mahmood right to use Trump’s playbook to curb small boats?
Home Office figures show over 111,00 applied for asylum to June 2025
Monday 17 November 2025 21:10 , Holly EvansThe latest Home Office figures show 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025.
This is the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
A contributing factor has been the continued flow of small boats across the English Channel, with almost 40,000 people making the crossing so far in 2025.
Home Office 'exploring' whether asylum seekers could be subject to student loan style scheme
Monday 17 November 2025 20:50 , Holly EvansThe Commons Home Affairs Committee chairwoman has asked whether asylum seekers could pay back the UK’s “generosity” through a student loans-style scheme.
Dame Karen Bradley, the Conservative MP for Staffordshire Moorlands, asked whether 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.”
People smuggler crackdown feels out of date, say Tories amid asylum overhaul
Monday 17 November 2025 20:30 , Holly EvansA move to combat people smugglers bringing migrants across the English Channel “feels out of date before it has even become law”, according to Tory critics as the Home Secretary unveiled plans to toughen up the asylum system.
Conservative frontbencher Lord Cameron of Lochiel made his comments as the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, cleared the House of Lords.
The third reading of the legislation coincided with Shabana Mahmood announcing reforms aimed at deterring illegal migration to the UK.
Outlining steps to tighten up the asylum rules, the Labour Cabinet minister said the current system was “out of control and unfair”.
Speaking as the legislation was given its third reading, Lord Cameron said: “We know that the Government are now bringing forward new measures relating to the asylum system.”
He added: “The point is that events have moved at such a pace that this Bill feels out of date before it has even become law.
“The Prime Minister’s ‘smash the gangs’ pledge has fallen so flat that the Government appear to have ditched the slogan. But as we have consistently said, simply going after the gangs will not work. What is required is a credible deterrent.”
Kemi Badenoch repeats offer to 'work with' the Conservatives
Monday 17 November 2025 20:13 , Holly EvansKemi Badenoch has said that Labour’s backbenchers are already lining up to block Shabana Mahmood’s asylum plan, and reiterated her offer to work with the Conservatives.
She said: “Without leaving the ECHR, Shabana Mahmood's plan won’t work. Parts of it may even take us backwards. She's proposed a few welcome steps, but they’re still baby steps.
“So here’s our offer: the country wants this sorted now. Sit down with us, drop the party politics, and let’s find a way of working together. Because her own MPs are already gearing up to block her.”
Without leaving the ECHR, Shabana Mahmood's plan won’t work. Parts of it may even take us backwards. She's proposed a few welcome steps, but they’re still baby steps.
— Kemi Badenoch (@KemiBadenoch) November 17, 2025
So here’s our offer: the country wants this sorted now. Sit down with us, drop the party politics, and let’s…
Mahmood asks MPs not to continue mentioning Tommy Robinson
Monday 17 November 2025 19:58 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has asked MPs to not mention Tommy Robinson, stating that she finds it “very offensive”.
After an MP mentions the far-right activist, the home secretary responds: "I would just ask for people, please don't keep repeating the name of a man who doesn't even think I'm English.
"I find that very offensive and I would just ask everyone to refrain from doing so. We don't need to do that, and we do not need to go there. Don't fall for the mischief that others are making here.
Green Party leader calls on voters to 'Reject the hate'
Monday 17 November 2025 19:41 , Holly EvansThe leader of the Green Party has described Labour’s sweeping asylum changes as “cruel” and “callous”.
Zack Polanski wrote on social media: “Cruel. Callous. Cowardly. 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.”
Cruel. Callous. Cowardly.
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) November 17, 2025
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.https://t.co/0qbagSvIYp https://t.co/ccKIOeqarg
Jeremy Corbyn accused Mahmood of trying 'to appease ghastly right-wing racist forces'
Monday 17 November 2025 19:32 , Holly EvansJeremy Corbyn has claimed that history will be a “harsh judge” on the government, and that Labour are trying to appease “the most ghastly right-wing racist forces”.
The former Labour leader said: “She [Mahmood] is instead trying to appease the most ghastly Right-wing racist forces all across Europe and by walking away from the European Convention on Human Rights, a convention created by the post-war Labour government.
“Does she not recognise that history is going to be a harsh judge on this Government for undermining the whole global humanitarian principles behind the ECHR and the universal declaration of human rights?”
Mahmood said she was “mystified” by Mr Corbyn’s question, and suggested he had not read the Home Office’s policies.
'Over my dead body' Mahmood responds over offer to join Reform
Monday 17 November 2025 19:09 , Holly EvansDanny Kruger, who defected to Reform in September from the Tories, has mockingly invited Shabana Mahmood to join the party.
The MP, who until September sat as a Tory MP, tells Shabana Mahmood that he "very much welcomes" her to put "in her application to join Reform" following her asylum reforms.
Noting that he failed to ask her a question, she responded: "As for his invitation to join his party, of whom there appear to be hardly any over there [on the benches of the Commons], let me tell him: over my dead body."
Green Party MP says policy is 'boosting far-right narrative'
Monday 17 November 2025 19:01 , Holly EvansA Green Party MP has accused Labour of trying to “out-Reform Reform” and boosting a “far-right narrative”.
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?”
Mahmood replied by suggesting that Green Party MPs are “hypocrites” for their comments in the Commons, but then “opposing accommodation in their own constituencies”.
Mahmood tells Labour critic: 'We will never seize jewellery'
Monday 17 November 2025 18:54 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has vowed the Government “never will seize people’s jewellery at the border”, as she faced a question from a Labour critic.
Sarah Owen, the Labour MP for Luton North, 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.”
Ms Owen had earlier written on the social media site Bluesky that “repugnant ‘deterrents’ did not work for the Tories, and they won’t work for” Labour.
Watch: Mahmood swears in Commons as she says she has been a victim of racial slurs
Monday 17 November 2025 18:53 , Holly EvansMahmood hits out at suggestion of Tommy Robinson's support
Monday 17 November 2025 18:49 , Holly EvansThe home secretary has rebuffed an accusation that her new policy has “found favour” with far-right activist Tommy Robinson, stating that he “doesn’t even think I am English”.
SNP MP Pete Wishart said: “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?”
Mahmood replied: “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.”
UK Border Force former director says he is not 'particularly optimistic' over plans
Monday 17 November 2025 18:40 , Holly EvansThe former director-general of UK Border Force has said he’s not “particularly optimistic” about the government’s plans to overhaul the asylum system.
Tony Smith, who worked for more than 40 years with the Home Office, told Times Radio: “The Tories tried quite hard with the Illegal Migration Act, the Safety of Rwanda Act, but we saw what happened. It took two or three years of challenges in the courts and the Lords, and they never got it off the ground. The same may well apply to this.
“I think there will be political opposition to this. There’ll certainly be opposition from community groups who think this is too harsh. Some on the left of the Labour Party won’t like it.”
He added: “Ultimately, I think it’s inevitable there will be challenges in the courts, which may slow this one up as well. So I’m afraid I can’t be particularly optimistic it’s going to solve the problem.”
ECHR Article 3 has 'expanded into the realm of the ridiculous', Mahmood says
Monday 17 November 2025 18:34 , Holly EvansThe European Convention on Human Rights is preventing the UK from deporting criminals to countries where the prison cells are too small, the Home Secretary has said.
Shabana Mahmood told the Commons the application of the definition of degrading treatment under Article Three of the ECHR has “expanded into the realm of the ridiculous”.
She said: “Today we have criminals we seek to deport but discover we cannot because the prisons in their home country have cells that are deemed too small, or even mental health provision that is not as good as our own.
“As Article Three is an absolute right, a public interest test cannot be applied.
“For that reason, we are seeking reform at the Council of Europe, and we do so alongside international partners who have raised similar concerns.”
Mahmood apologises for swearing in indignant response to Lib Dems
Monday 17 November 2025 18:28 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has issued an indignant response to Max Wilkinson MP from the Liberal Democrats, who suggested she was “stoking the public by using immoderate language”.
The home secretary said: “Unlike him, unfortunately I am the one who is regularly called a f****** 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.”
She was asked to apologise by the Speaker for her “unacceptable language”.
Mahmood says Labour 'will not be taking any lessons' from the Tories
Monday 17 November 2025 18:15 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has criticised the Tories for their record, claiming Labour had turned it around after Badenoch’s party “gave up on governing altogether”.
She said: “We will not be taking any lessons from the party opposite. They gave up on making asylum decisions.
The home secretary stressed that removals are up 23 per cent in the first year of Labour’s time in government, and said that instead the Tories spent their time on an “expensive gimmick” with the Rwanda scheme.
Home secretary vows to end 'merry-go-round of claims and appeals'
Monday 17 November 2025 18:11 , Holly EvansAsylum seekers will have “just one opportunity” to make their claim, and one to appeal, Shabana Mahmood has said, “ending the merry-go-round of claims and appeals that frustrate so many removals”.
The Home Secretary told MPs: “In March of this year, the appeals backlog stood at 51,000 cases.
“This Government has already increased judicial sitting days, but reform is required, so we will create a new appeals body staffed by professional independent adjudicators.
“And we will ensure there is early legal representation available to advise claimants and ensure their issues are properly considered.
“Cases with a low chance of success will be fast-tracked, and claimants will have just one opportunity to claim and one to appeal, ending the merry-go-round of claims and appeals that frustrate so many removals.”
Government will enforce returns for Albanian families if necessary
Monday 17 November 2025 18:07 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has vowed to enforce the removal of families to Albania.
The Home Secretary told the Commons: “These measures are designed to tackle the pull factors that draw people into this country, but reducing the number of arrivals is just half of the story. We must also enforce our rules and remove those who have no right to be here.
“This will mean restarting removals to countries where they have been paused. In recent months, we have begun voluntary removal of failed asylum seekers to Syria once again, however, there are still many failed asylum seekers here from Syria, most of whom fled a regime that has since been toppled.”
Ms Mahmood said the Government would “continue to explore the possibility of return hubs”.
She added that there were “around 700 Albanian families living in taxpayer-funded accommodation having failed their asylum claims”.
She said: “This is true despite an existing returns agreement and that Albania is a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). So, we will now begin the removal of families. Where possible, we will encourage a voluntary return, but where an enforced return is necessary, that is what we will do.”
Kemi Badenoch says Mahmood will need Tory votes to get asylum measure through
Monday 17 November 2025 18:05 , Holly EvansThe Tory leader has made “a genuine offer” to work with Labour home secretary Shabana Mahmood to get through the controversial asylum measures.
Kemi Badenoch suggested that she “suspects” that the Labour MPs “behind her will vote it down”.
She raises the welfare rebellion and points out that Labour MPs forced Keir Starmer to abandon £5bn of benefits cuts. “From what I can see his grip on the party has not got any stronger,” she added.
Tory leader says it is a 'shame' that Labour has taken a year in office to realise crisis
Monday 17 November 2025 18:02 , Holly EvansKemi Badenoch has also agreed with Mahmood that the system is "not fair on British citizens".
She added: "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."
She also says the Tories are "not going to take any lectures from the people who voted down every single measure to control immigration".
Kemi Badenoch praises Mahmood's 'fresh energy and a clearer focus'
Monday 17 November 2025 17:58 , Holly EvansKemi Badenoch has praised Shabana Mahmood for “bringing fresh energy and a clearer focus” to her new asylum policy.
She added: “She seems to get what many of us on the benches behind refuse to accept.
“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'."
The Tory leader acknowledged she had done more in less than three months than her predecessor Yvette Cooper had in more than a year.
Mahmood says current asylum system is making UK 'a divided place'
Monday 17 November 2025 17:54 , Holly EvansAnnouncing proposed changes to the asylum system in the Commons on Monday, she said: ““The pace and scale of change has destabilised communities, it is making our country a more divided place.
“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.
“I have no doubt about who we really are in this country.
“We are open, tolerant and generous, but the public rightly expects that we can determine who enters this country and who must leave.”
Watch: Mahmood vows to restore order and control to the border as she unveils major asylum reforms
Monday 17 November 2025 17:52 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood raises permanent residency wait to 20 years
Monday 17 November 2025 17:46 , Holly EvansRefugees arriving illegally will have to wait up to 20 years before they qualify for permanent residence, the home secretary has announced.
This an increase of four times from the current timeframe of five years.
Asylum system feels 'out of control and unfair', says Mahmood
Monday 17 November 2025 17:45 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood is outlining her reforms to the asylum system, saying that she is introducing them because the "world is a more volatile and more mobile place".
She told MPs that while some of those coming to the UK illegally are genuine refugees, "others are economic migrants seeking to use and abuse our asylum system".
She says: "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."
Home secretary says Tories left them with 'grotesque chaos'
Monday 17 November 2025 17:44 , Holly EvansShabana Mahmood has criticised the previous Conservative government for leaving Labour with a “dreadful inheritance” in dealing with the asylum system.
She took aim at the “lamentable” failed Rwanda scheme, which cost the taxpayer £700m but only saw a few volunteers leave the country.
To much jeering, she described the situation as “grotesque chaos” and praised Sir Keir Starmer for his one-in-one-out deal with France.
Home secretary begins speech
Monday 17 November 2025 17:38 , Holly EvansThe home secretary Shabana Mahmood has begun her speech to the House of Commons, outlying the sweeping changes the government are introducing to the asylum system.