Key migration modifications as Shabana Mahmood units out Labour’s imaginative and prescient to cease small boats
shIn a landmark speech Shabana Mahmood insisted failure to get a grip of the migration system will mean the hard right – referencing Nigel Farage – will get their chance to try
Shabana Mahmood has set out her vision for clearing up UK’s asylum chaos(Image: PA)
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has set out her controversial asylum and migration shake-up.
Ms Mahmood argued her proposals – which include removal of support for thousands of asylum seekers and doubling the time people qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) – fit in with Labour values. And she warned that failure to tackle small boats could pave the way for a Nigel Farage “nightmare”.
She insisted her plans were a humane alternative to Reform’s plans, stating during a landmark speech in London: “If the left does not secure our borders, the hard right will be given the chance to try, and they will not be restrained by values like ours.
“Instead, they will pull up the drawbridge. Those who have been here for decades, legally with settled status, will suddenly hear a knock on their door one night, bundled into the back of a van, separated from children and grandchildren, and deported from this country that they have made their home.
“With deportations on the scale that Reform now promise, there is no way of achieving them without sending people back to a country that is not safe and where on return they could be killed.”
READ MORE: Small boat failure would pave way for Farage ‘nightmare’ warns Shabana Mahmood
Payments to send asylum seekers home
A new pilot which will see payments of up to £10,000 per person for people who cooperate with the system. Around 150 families – including children – are expected to take part in the trial, which will determine whether it will save money.
Officials are hopeful it could save up to £20million per year. The Home Secretary said the Government would seek to echo reforms introduced in Denmark, where she said there had been “great success” in using incentives. This has seen 95% of removals take place voluntarily, she said.
Ms Mahmood stated: “This Government will now pilot a similar model for families who are failed asylum seekers, a small number of whom will now be offered an increased incentive payment of £10,000 per person and up to a maximum of £40,000 per family.”
These incentives will bring a “significant saving” to the taxpayer if they prove effective, she said. She added: “Where a voluntary removal is refused, we will escalate to an enforced removal for those who can be returned to their safe home country.
“We are now consulting on precisely how the removal of families with children must take place in a way that is humane and effective. For too long, families who have failed their claims have known that we are not enforcing our rules, which created a perverse incentive to make a channel crossing with children in a small boat it.
New safe and legal routes for refugees announced
Ms Mahmood announces new safe and legal routes for refugees.
She says: “We will now open new and safe and legal routes starting this autumn by opening a new student refugee route, with the first arrivals in autumn 2027.
“This will be the first of a series of new safe and legal routes, which will include a new work route and the expansion of community sponsorship.”
Sweeping change to refugee status
Asylum seekers will only be offered refugee status as a temporary protection under new rules.
From now on adults and accompanied children face reviews every 30 months – and could be forced to return to their homeland if it is deemed safe. Human rights groups branded it a “dark day” – warning people fleeing war and persecution will face uncertainty as a result.
Ms Mahmood insisted the measure was firm but fair, and said it would discourage illegal crossings. Previously those granted refugee status had it for five years and could then apply for indefinite leave to remain – the main route to citizenship.
Indefinite leave to remain shake-up
At the moment people have the right to permanent settlement in the UK after being here for five years.
The Government is proposing to at least double this – but there will be some exceptions. The standard wait will be 10 years under the plans.
But there will be a number of rewards and penalties, which we will run through below. Notably high earners and NHS staff will be fast-tracked, while volunteering will help get a faster settlement.
On the flip side, claiming benefits and coming to the UK illegally will mean extra years are added.
Emergency brake for visas
The Government has placed an emergency brake on visas for nationals from four countries, accusing them of exploiting Britain’s generosity to claim asylum.
The move sees a pause on study visas for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan, as well as work visas for Afghans. The Government has halted the visa routes as it claims a growing number of people from these countries are using legal migration routes as a backdoor to claim asylum in the UK.
And going further, the Home Secretary announced: “I will also impose visit visas on Nicaragua and Saint Lucia, as their visa free entry has created a back door into this country.”
Fast-tracking NHS staff and high earners
Under the proposals, earlier settlements will be offered to people who make an “outsized contribution to our national life”.
These include those paying the higher rate of tax, who could qualify after five years – while those on the top rate are eligible after three.
On top of that, those on global talent visas – which are issued to leaders in academia or research, arts and culture and digital technology – would also qualify after three years.
Volunteering will also reduce the wait
There is also the chance for a faster settlement for “those who have volunteered extensively in their local communities” under the new policy.
Offiicials are looking at how this will work and what kind of volunteer work will qualify. The Home Office policy paper published last year migrants can shave three to five years from their qualifying time by doing unpaid work in their communities.
Support ending for those eligible to work
People who have a right to work in the UK and can support themselves, but do not, face being denied housing and benefits under the new measures.
The Home Office said: “The government will seek to remove asylum support, including accommodation and handouts, to those that have a right to work and who can support themselves but choose not to or those who break UK law.”
New grounds for refusal
In order to be awarded indefinite leave to remain, people must meet four key criteria.
They must have no criminal record, speak English to A-level standards and have no debt, Ms Mahmood said. They will also have to have paid National Insurance for at least three years.
Extra years for claiming benefits
Migrants who have claimed benefits in the UK will face a longer wait, the policy document says.
Those who have received public funds for less than 12 months will have to wait an extra five years – meaning they will have been in the UK at least 15 years. And if they’ve claimed benefits for more than a year, their wait will rise by a decade.
Up to 20 additional years for small boat arrivals
The plans state that anyone who arrives in the UK illegal – by small boat or other clandestine means – faces an additional 20 years.
This means that some could be waiting 30 years for permanent settlement. This penalty will also apply for those who overstay their permission or enter on a visa visit but are given right to remain.
Enver Solomon, Chief Executive of Refugee Council, said: “These proposals risk trapping people who have fled war and persecution in three decades of instability and stress at the very moment they need certainty to rebuild their lives.”
Home Secretary sets out her version of Labour values
The Home Secretary says her parents “who came to this country in search of a better life” were welcomed into a new political home – the Labour Party.
She says Labour values are united by values of a “fairness and a recognition” in this country”, equality and enduring decency and tolerance.
Ms Mahmood also says “the dice are loaded against working class communities”, while invokes a George Orwell definition of patriotism. And she says the Refugee Convention must not be abused by people smugglers.
She adds: “Take all that together and you find that Labour values apply to our migration.” She hits out at “the fairy tale of open borders” of the Greens and the “nightmare of Nigel Farage pulling up the drawbridge and shutting out the world“.
