Consent for asylum system ‘could fall apart if illegal migration not tackled’

Consent for helping asylum seekers restart their lives in the UK will fall apart if the Government does not do more to tackle illegal migration, Shabana Mahmood has said.

The Home Secretary also insisted she saw her attempts to overhaul the asylum system as part of a “moral mission” aimed at preventing division in the country.

Ms Mahmood will set out reforms to the UK’s asylum system, how it decides to grant sanctuary to those fleeing conflict and hardship abroad, in the House of Commons on Monday.

Billed as the largest overhaul of its kind in modern times, the package is aimed at making Britain a less attractive destination for illegal migrants and making it easier to remove them from the UK.

Refugee status will be made temporary and subject to regular review under the proposals, so that people are returned to their homeland once it becomes safe.

At the same time, safe and legal routes to the UK will be introduced as a way to cut dangerous journeys in small boats across the English Channel.

Speaking on Sunday morning, Ms Mahmood warned illegal migration is causing “huge divides” in Britain.

She told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips the plans she will set out on Monday are the “most sweeping set of reforms in modern times”.

Ms Mahmood added: “Because I know illegal migration is causing huge divides here in our own country and I do believe we need to act if we are to retain public consent for having an asylum system at all.”

Later, appearing on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the Home Secretary rejected suggestions that “dealing with this problem is somehow engaging in far-right talking points”.

She added: “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.

“This is a moral mission for me, because I can see illegal migration is tearing our country apart, it is dividing communities.”

As the Government faces an increasingly restive group of Labour backbenchers, the Home Secretary added: “I know that I have to persuade people across the country, not just in Parliament, but across the country, that these are reforms that can work.”

Among the other major changes set to be announced on Monday, Ms Mahmood is set to revoke the statutory legal duty to provide asylum-seeker support, introduced in 2005 via EU law.

This means housing and weekly allowances will no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers.

Those who have a right to work in the UK and can support themselves, but do not, could also be denied housing and benefits because of the change, as could lawbreakers.

Other changes expected to be announced on Monday include requiring judges to prioritise public safety over migrants’ rights to a family life, or the risk that they will face “inhuman” treatment if returned to their home country.

Elsewhere, AI facial age estimate technology will be rolled out to identify migrants’ age in a bid to find out whether those claiming to be children really are.

Ministers have taken inspiration from the strict asylum approach taken by Denmark, where a government of the same political stripe as Labour has managed to remove incentives drawing people to the country and has increased deportations of illegal migrants.

Some 39,075 people have arrived in the UK after making the journey so far this year, according to the latest Home Office figures.

The arrivals have already passed the number for the whole of 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437), but the number is still below the total at this point in 2022 (39,929).

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said he has concerns if the Government gets its migration policies wrong.

He told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “There is a danger here if the Government gets this wrong and it will prevent refugees contributing to our society, paying taxes, setting up businesses, helping us grow our economy – and that will be self-defeating.

“We will look at the details but we have concerns.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp described the Government’s plans as “very small steps in the right direction with a few gimmicks”.

The senior Tory told Sky News: “We want no illegal immigration whatsoever.

“We need to have a cap on legal inward migration each year, so the numbers are very, very dramatically lower.”