Major adjustments to ‘uncontrolled’ asylum system as Home Secretary points warning
The plans come after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said Britain’s asylum system was ‘out of control and warned that illegal migration was ‘tearing our country apart’
The Home Secretary will on Monday unveil plans to overhaul human rights laws to speed up deportations in the biggest shake-up to the asylum system since the Second World War.
The hardline blueprint will include measures to ramp up removals of foreign criminals and people who come to Britain illegally, including reforms to a key plank of European human rights law, restrictions to appeals and a tightening of modern slavery law.
It comes after Ms Mahmood said Britain’s asylum system was “out of control” and illegal migration was “tearing our country apart”.
Some 39,075 people have arrived in the UK in small boats so far this year, second only to 2022 when arrivals hit record levels.
The plan will include new legislation to reform how Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is interpreted by courts.
READ MORE: Home Secretary says illegal migration ‘tearing UK apart’ as hardline plan unveiledREAD MORE: Top minister Shabana Mahmood blasts Labour briefing war – ‘deeply embarrassing’
The Home Office argues that the clause, which protects the right to family and private life, is being abused, including by serious criminals.
Changes will also specify that family connection means immediate family, such as a parent or child, to block people from using tenuous connections to stay in the UK.
Asylum seekers will only be allowed to make a single appeal on their case and a new body will be set up to fast track cases of dangerous criminals or those with little chance of success.
Legislation will also be brought forward to ensure the Modern Slavery Act cannot be abused by people trying to remain in the UK.
Under plans modelled on the system in Denmark, one of the toughest in Europe, asylum seekers who come by illegal routes will have to wait 20 years to apply for permanent settlement.
Refugee status will be made temporary and subject to regular review – with people removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe.
Three new legal routes will be created to counter the draconian changes, including capped work and study routes, and a scheme for local communities to sponsor refugees modelled on the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
Tonight, Keir Starmer said: “Britain has always been a fair, tolerant and compassionate country – and this government will always defend those values.
“But in a more volatile world people need to know our borders are secure and rules are enforced.
“These reforms will block endless appeals, stop last minute claims and scale up removals of those with no right to be here.”
The details triggered alarm from charities, and the Government was accused of “reheating a failed strategy” proposed by the Tories.
But the Home Secretary rejected the criticism, saying: “I am the child of migrants myself. My parents came to this country lawfully in the late 60s and in the 70s.
“Immigration is absolutely woven into my experience as a Brit and also that of thousands of my constituents.”
Ms Mahmood went on: “This is a moral mission for me, because I can see illegal migration is tearing our country apart. It is dividing communities.
“People can see huge pressure in their communities, and they can also see a system that is broken and where people are able to flout the rules, abuse the system and get away with it.”
Sunder Katwala, Director of immigration thinktank British Future, said the proposals echoed Tory plans in 2022, which failed to stop the flow of small boats.
He said: “Rather than reheating a failed strategy, the government needs a serious plan: safe, controlled routes alongside returns of irregular arrivals to break the smugglers’ business model.
“Making those already here wait 20 years before they can settle isn’t going to change people’s minds about getting in a smuggler’s dinghy.”
Sile Reynolds, Head of Asylum Advocacy at Freedom from Torture, said: “Instead of offering safety, political parties are locked in a race to the bottom – trying to outdo one another in cruelty towards refugees.
“These proposals will punish people who’ve already lost everything, cutting them off from safety and hope. “But either we all have human rights, or none of us do.”
Tensions over the asylum system ramped up over the summer with a wave of protests outside hotels housing migrants.
On Sunday, protesters gathered in Crowborough, East Sussex, to demonstrate against government plans to house 600 asylum seekers at a disused army training camp nearby.
Sussex Police said the demonstration had been peaceful and no arrests were made.
