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Shabana Mahmood said she wanted to tighten the UK’s asylum rules.

Instead, the government has unveiled a set of changes that combine impractical enforcement with unnecessary cruelty.

The argument was right – that protection must be real, not a fast track to citizenship.

But instead of providing protection, Mahmood has dismantled the safety net and created permanent precarity.

She has unilaterally decided to punish people who have already won protection, tear up our moral obligations, and risk destabilising international agreements.

This is not simple overreach – it is a policy misfire that will fail to stop small-boat crossings, but succeed in making life harder for refugees, their families, and for the UK’s diplomatic standing.

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From Promise to Peril: What Mahmood Is Really Proposing

Mahmood’s new asylum policy – in a Home Office document ironically called Restoring Order and Control, if you can be bothered to download and read it – will upend the existing model for refugees in the UK.

Under the current system, those granted asylum usually receive refugee status for five years, after which they can apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), and eventually settle permanently.

Under these reforms, that path is obliterated.

Refugee status would become temporary, reviewed every 30 months, and permanent settlement — ILR — would only be allowed after 20 years.[¹][²]

Mahmood also proposes that those whose home countries are later deemed “safe” could be returned. In her own words, she argued to MPs that the asylum system feels “out of control and unfair,” and unless it is fixed, “we will draw more people down a path that starts with anger and ends in hatred.”[³]

This Is Not Toughening — It’s Retrospective Punishment

Asylum should be temporary protection, not indefinite entitlement.

The principle that people should only stay until it’s safe to return is valid.

But this policy does something far more brutal: it retroactively changes the deal for people who have already been accepted under the old rules.

Imagine someone who came to Britain fleeing persecution, passed their asylum interview, was granted refugee status, moved into a community, began building a life, perhaps worked, perhaps learned English, perhaps their children were born here — all on the assumption that ILR was possible after five years.

Under Mahmood’s reforms, that person would now face uncertainty, re-assessment every few years, and a 20-year wait. That is not just tightening; it’s a fundamental shift in the bargain.

This is not hypothetical. Many of the proposed measures will apply to people who already have refugee status.

The effect is manufactured insecurity, not just deterrence.

Hardship Ahead: Benefits, Housing, and Family Life on the Line

Mahmood’s plan would also remove the legal obligation to provide housing and weekly allowances to asylum seekers. Currently, asylum seekers who cannot support themselves are guaranteed some support under law; her reforms would make that support discretionary.[⁴]

Not only that: those with the right to work but who don’t work, or who break laws (including not complying with removal directions), may lose support.

The Home Office even proposes that asylum seekers with assets — cars, savings, possibly “non-sentimental” valuables — could be asked to use them to pay for their accommodation.[⁵]

Maybe you approve of those changes, but the implications are grim. Dr Dora-Olivia Vicol, CEO of the Work Rights Centre, has warned that people with time-limited leave will struggle to find stable, secure work.

“Shutting refugees out of sustainable, secure work … only pushes them closer to precarious roles where they can be exploited for profit,” she said.[⁶]

Without the safety net, there is a real risk that people who are supposed to be protected will be pushed into exploitation — or even modern slavery.

Then there is family life: The UK already has one of the strictest rules in Europe for this, but Mahmood’s reforms also target the right to family reunion under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The government proposes narrowing “family life” to only immediate relatives — parents and children — and otherwise giving a greater “public interest” weight to removal decisions. [⁷] This excludes people who depend on each other if fleeing war, famine or economic collapse. Severing the ties creates isolation and destitution.

The Modern Slavery Act is also being amended to make “late” claims (for instance, claims made very near removal) less credible, making it harder for people to use the courts to resist deportation.

The Home Office argues that there are “last-minute modern slavery claims” being used to block deportations. According to her, some asylum seekers declare they are “modern slaves” just before a scheduled removal, making it harder for the government to remove them.

But modern slavery survivors often do not disclose exploitation immediately because of trauma, fear, shame, or because they are being controlled. The Home Office’s presumption that “late disclosure damages credibility” is deeply problematic.

This is not procedural overhaul; it is a deliberate reshaping of basic protections.

The Danish Model — But Worse

Mahmood says she is “inspired” by Denmark’s centre-left Social Democrats.

In Denmark, refugees are given temporary two-year permits, and their protection is regularly reviewed – that is true. But the UK plan diverges from Denmark in worrying ways:

In Denmark, removals after provision of temporary permits are relatively rare, especially for refugees who have integrated; the system also rests on a more generous welfare state and stronger social support for newcomers.

Critics argue the UK lacks the same foundations. As one analysis makes clear, importing Denmark’s rhetoric without the context risks creating legal limbo without actually deterring migration — and that’s exactly what we’re seeing.

This is what I warned about: Labour is copying Denmark’s language, but not its social framework. By pushing a far harsher version, the government is setting up a regime of perpetual insecurity rather than genuine control.

Moral and Political Backlash: Not Just From the Far Left

Almost immediately, reaction has been fierce:

• Rt Rev Dr Anderson Jeremiah, Bishop of Edmonton, said Mahmood’s remarks “shook me to the core,” arguing that asylum seekers are being scapegoated for years of systemic policy failures. He warned that the government is “laying the burden of society’s problems on less than 1 per cent of the UK population.”[⁸]
• Within Labour, at least 20 MPs have gone public against the plan. Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East, called the policies “dystopian” and “cruel,” asking: “Is this how we’d want to be treated if we were fleeing for our lives?”[⁹]
• Labour MPs Tony Vaughan and Sarah Owen warned that the scale of removals, especially involving children, will inflict deep damage on the party’s moral reputation. [¹⁰]
• Fran Heathcote, general secretary of the PCS union, slammed the plan: “the government’s latest plans … are not just morally reprehensible, they are also inconsistent with their aim of achieving economic growth.”[¹¹]
• A report from the London School of Economics, commissioned by PCS and Together With Refugees, modelled an alternative: a humane system with legal advice, quicker decisions, English-language support, and employment help could, it said, deliver a net economic benefit of £266,000 per refugee within five years of their settlement. [¹²]

This is not a fringe revolt. These are institutional objections from faith leaders, unions, academics, legal experts, and elected politicians — all warning that these reforms will harm not just people, but the integrity of the system and public trust.

International Fallout: Ireland and Beyond

There is also a geopolitical risk.

Ireland’s justice minister has already said he will “closely monitor” the changes, warning they could drive more asylum seekers to Ireland and strain the Common Travel Area. [¹³]

Given the open border between Northern Ireland and the Republic, a UK crackdown could simply redirect migration rather than reduce it — with serious political and diplomatic fallout.

There are also visa sanctions planned. Mahmood is threatening visa bans on Angola, Namibia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo if those states do not co-operate on returns. [¹⁴]

This brings a risky new dimension: foreign policy tied to deportation co-operation. It is not just a domestic asylum issue; it is now part of the UK’s diplomatic bargaining.

Structural Risks: Not Just Cruelty — But Chaos

Beyond the moral horror stories, this policy threatens to create an asylum system that is administratively chaotic and expensive. Here’s how:

Frequent Reviews = Bureaucratic Burden

Status reviews every 30 months will massively increase casework. The Home Office, already overwhelmed, now risks being swamped by renewals rather than removals or integration.

Appeal System Overhaul

The plan proposes replacing multiple appeals with a single consolidated appeal — where all grounds must be raised at once — and a new body of trained adjudicators to hear them. [⁷]

But narrowing legal protections and compressing appeals doesn’t necessarily reduce court time: it may simply raise more litigious arguments, especially around human rights.

Destitution by Design

With support made discretionary, many asylum seekers may be left without housing or income.

Those who could work but don’t, or who have assets, may be penalised. That change ignores the fact that most asylum-seekers are not allowed to work, and the pressure it creates risks pushing already traumatised people into poverty or exploitation.

Long-Term Social Costs

If people have to wait 20 years to apply for ILR, they may disengage from society.

Their children may be raised in prolonged legal limbo.

Integration, if it happens at all, will be hindered rather than fostered.

The costs of non-integration — social fragmentation, poor mental health, reliance on limited support networks — could be huge.

So Why Did Labour Do This?

I originally said the choice is right – but is being made for the wrong reasons. Now, Labour has deliberately made that right choice wrong – and for the very same wrong reasons.

Labour’s political logic seems to be:

The far right (Reform UK) is attacking on migration, so Labour needs to show strength.

The public is angry about small boats, and only a tough new asylum system will regain trust.

Saying “control” and “order” helps neutralise anti-immigration attacks; by explicitly copying Denmark, Labour can claim it is serious.

But in doing so, Mahmood miscalculated. She has sacrificed key values — fairness, stability, human dignity — in pursuit of political theatre. And she has opened the government to a backbench rebellion, moral condemnation, and international criticism.

What Should Be Done Instead?

If the goal is a fair, effective asylum system, here’s what Labour should do:

Maintain non-retrospective protection

Those who have already been granted refugee status under the current rules should not be dragged into a 20-year limbo. Stability matters.

Accelerate integration, rather than punishing it

Investing in legal advice, English courses, and employment support (as the LSE report suggests) would yield far better long-term outcomes — socially and economically.

Reform, but keep rights

Appeals should be streamlined, but rights under the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) should not be dismantled. Reform should not mean eroding fundamental protections for children, families, and vulnerable people.

Set realistic goals for returns

Labour should pursue diplomatic co-operation, but it must recognise that mass returns are not a silver bullet. The solution cannot rely solely on deterrence; resettlement and safe routes must remain central.

Face the politics with honesty

Yes, illegal migration is a political issue – but using institutional cruelty to prove “toughness” damages the public trust Labour claims to be restoring. A government should lead, not mimic its rivals.

A terrible mistake

This is not just a tightening — it is a transformation.

Mahmood’s asylum overhaul militarises the system, weaponises instability, and punts morality to the side.

Yes, asylum must be controlled.

Yes, there must be consequences.

But a system that punishes people who have already endured exile, strips away rights, and risks international division is not just harsh — it’s haphazard, cynical, and dangerously misjudged.

Labour is betting that this will quiet Reform UK, rally public confidence, and regain control. It won’t.

Labour may well create a new asylum system that is less humane, less just, less effective – and, in the process, lose its own soul.

Footnotes

1. Guardian Live Coverage, “Shabana Mahmood tells MPs asylum system is ‘out of control and unfair’ …” The Guardian+2The Guardian+2
2. Al Jazeera, “UK to end ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers in huge policy overhaul.” Al Jazeera
3. Guardian Live Coverage, as above. The Guardian
4. ITV News, “Safe routes and temporary status for refugees …” ITVX
5. Guardian Live Coverage, quoting Work Rights Centre. The Guardian
6. Guardian Live Coverage. The Guardian
7. Guardian (Live) and asylum policy document summary. The Guardian+1
8. Guardian, “Anglican bishop shaken ‘to the core’ …” The Guardian
9. Guardian, “Starmer facing fresh challenge …” The Guardian
10. Guardian, live coverage. The Guardian
11. Guardian, live coverage quoting PCS. The Guardian
12. Guardian live coverage of LSE report. The Guardian
13. Irish Times, “Asylum system in UK ‘out of control’ …”
14. Guardian, live coverage on visa sanctions.

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