Labour MPs name on Keir Starmer to U-turn on ‘performative cruelty’ citizenship guidelines

Keir Starmer faces a rebellion over new rules barring people arriving in Britain in small boats from ever claiming UK citizenship.

The controversial move, quietly announced last week, has been dismissed as “performative cruelty” by a furious Labour backbencher. More than a dozen Labour MPs have put their name to a motion demanding a U-turn. They say it “further punishes” people who have fled war and persecution.

New Home Office guidance states that UK citizenship applications will be turned down if a person arrived by “dangerous” means, such as on a small boat or hidden on a lorry. It has sparked an outcry among human rights groups, who warn it will turn thousands of people into “second class citizens”.

The change does not affect decisions on whether people who arrived by small boat should be allowed to remain in the UK. Labour MP Nadia Whittome, who put forward the motion, told The Mirror: “I think that this is a continuation of the performative cruelty that we saw in the last Conservative government.

“I think most Labour MPs are not in favour of this policy. That’s not what the Labour Party is meant to stand for. I think the policy is designed to win back Reform voters and it just won’t work.”

The guidance affects people who have already been granted indefinite leave to remain in the UK, settled status and with indefinite leave to enter the UK. Ms Whittome said it will make them “second class citizens”.

She added: “No matter what these refugees do, they will never have that citizenship for the place they call home, just because they took the only route that was available to them.”

Her motion, which so far has the backing of 13 other Labour backbenchers, says many people are forced to make unsafe crossings “due to a lack of alternative safe routes”.

And it states that the policy “further punishes individuals whose claims of fleeing war, persecution, and danger have been upheld”. Diane Abbott, Olivia Blake, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Ian Byrne, Andy McDonald, Kim Johnson and Clive Lewis are among the MPs to sign the call.

The new “good character” guidance was designed to target people who came to the UK illegally, the Home Office said. Last year 78 people died trying to reach the UK in small boats, and ministers are trying to stop further tragedies.

Last week Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “This change flies in the face of reason. The British public want refugees who have been given safety in our country to integrate into and contribute to their new communities, so it makes no sense for the Government to erect more barriers.”

A Home Office spokesman said last week: “There are already rules that can prevent those arriving illegally from gaining citizenship. This guidance further strengthens measures to make it clear that anyone who enters the UK illegally, including small boat arrivals, faces having a British citizenship application refused.”