Mutiny within the Labour ranks over Home Secretary’s ‘merciless’ new migrant guidelines

Shabana Mahmood’s plans for a crackdown on asylum seekers triggered deep splits in Labour’s ranks last night.

The Home Secretary told MPs that radical reforms were needed to restore public confidence in Britain’s ‘broken’ asylum system, saying it ‘feels out of control and unfair’.

But a string of Labour MPs lined up to criticise the ‘dystopian’ reforms, with several indicating they will try to block the changes.

Richard Burgon accused ministers of ‘scraping the bottom of the barrel’ and ‘paving the way for the first far-Right government in our history’. 

Nadia Whittome said it was ‘shameful’ that Labour was adopting obviously cruel policies’.

The rebellion spread beyond the so-called ‘usual suspects’ on the Left of the party, with a broad range of MPs raising concerns about proposals which include deporting the families of people whose asylum claims have failed, seizing the assets of asylum seekers and forcing people to wait 20 years before becoming eligible for permanent settlement.

And it comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s position is weakened, having seen briefings about leadership challengers backfire.

Prominent Labour MP Stella Creasy accused ministers of ‘performative cruelty’ and warned the measures would be ‘counterproductive to integration and the economy’. She said leaving people ‘in limbo’ for decades would worsen problems with integration.

Shabana Mahmood’s plans for a crackdown on asylum seekers triggered deep splits in Labour’s ranks last night

There were concerns over deporting the families of people whose asylum claims have failed, seizing the assets of asylum seekers and forcing people to wait 20 years before becoming eligible for permanent settlement

Folkestone MP Tony Vaughan, a former immigration lawyer, said the rhetoric emerging from the Home Office ‘encourages the same culture of divisiveness that sees racism and abuse growing in our communities’.

He added: ‘These asylum proposals suggest we have taken the wrong turning. The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.’ 

Stroud MP Simon Opher said it was ‘wrong and cruel’ to ‘scapegoat immigrants’, adding: ‘We should push back on the racist agenda of Reform rather than echo it.’

In the Commons, Luton North MP Sarah Owen criticised the plans to confiscate high-value items such as jewellery to help fund asylum accommodation.

 ‘A strong immigration system doesn’t have to be a cruel one,’ she said.

Ms Mahmood insisted officials would not be ‘taking jewellery at the border’. But she said it was right that asylum seekers with assets should contribute to the cost of their upkeep.

The scale of the Labour backlash will fuel speculation that ministers could be forced to back down again following U-turns on benefit cuts and the winter fuel payment.

One Labour insider said: ‘If we’re going to have a fight with the Left on this, we have to make sure we actually win this time.’

But Ms Mahmood rejected claims the crackdown was designed to ‘out-Reform Reform’, telling MPs: ‘I couldn’t care less what other parties are saying. There is a problem here that needs to be fixed.’

Ms Mahmood did win support on the Tory benches, with veteran MP Sir Edward Leigh praising her ‘strong Conservative principles’

She also dismissed criticism from the Green Party, accusing senior figures of ‘hypocrisy’ for claiming to welcome refugees while opposing accommodation in their areas.

She was, however, backed by some Labour MPs, including those from traditional Red Wall seats.

North Durham MP Luke Akehurst said his constituents were ‘worried and angry’ about the relocation of asylum seekers locally and said restoring control of the border was ‘one of the most basic and fundamental functions of government’. 

Bassetlaw MP Jo White said ‘enforcing the immigration rules, including removals, is in the public interest’.

Ms Mahmood also won support on the Tory benches, with veteran MP Sir Edward Leigh praising her ‘strong Conservative principles’.

But former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn accused Ms Mahmood of ‘trying to appease the most ghastly Right-wing forces’, while fellow Your Party founder Zarah Sultana said her comments were ‘straight out of the fascist playbook’.