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The British government’s plan to tighten its asylum system faced intense opposition from within its own party on Monday but was gaining some support from political rivals, a sign of how divisive the immigration issue has become.
before the home secretary Shabana Mehmood Even as she released details of a sweeping plan to make Britain less attractive to asylum seekers and turn away migrants, she was trying to quell a backlash from the centre-left. group of workers Backbenchers accused him of trying to court the far-right.
“It is shameful that a Labor government is taking away the rights and protections of people who have suffered unimaginable trauma,” said Nadia Whittome, the Labor member of Parliament from Nottingham, who called the proposed policies “cruel” and “dystopian.” “If we were running for our lives, would we want to be treated like this? Absolutely not.”
Mahmood said his plans, which he partially released over the weekend, could fix a broken asylum system and unite a country divided over a flashpoint issue that has helped fuel the rise of the anti-immigrant Reform UK Party.
“We have a problem that we have a moral duty to fix – our asylum system is broken,” Mahmoud said. House of Commons“Breaking down that asylum system is causing tremendous division throughout our country,”
Mahmoud said the new policy would prevent migrants who do not stay in the first safe country where they land, but instead look for the most attractive place to settle, to “asylum shop” across Europe.
Struggle to stop boats
Stopping the flow of migrants making the dangerous English Channel crossing to enter the country without permission has increasingly vexed governments, which have tried a variety of methods with little success.
The previous centre-right Conservative government’s plan to send arrivals to Rwanda for the asylum process was challenged in court and canceled by the prime minister. keir starmerWhen he was elected last year. Starmer has vowed to crack down on migrant smuggling rings and launched a pilot “one in, one out” program to send some Channel crossers back to France in exchange for migrants with legitimate asylum claims.
The issue of migration became more politically volatile this summer as protests, sometimes turning violent, took place outside hotels housing asylum seekers after a migrant was arrested and later convicted on charges of sexual assault for trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl.
More than 39,000 migrants have arrived in Britain by boat this year, according to the latest Home Office figures, up from around 37,000 who arrived in 2024. However, this number is still less than the approximately 40,000 that were reached at this point in 2022, the highest number ever recorded.
Although arrivals on small boats have increased, this is a fraction of total immigration, with the majority entering the UK legally on visas. Net migration – the number of people entering the UK – has dropped to more than 900,000 in the year ending June 2023, mainly due to thousands of people fleeing the war in Ukraine and pressure from China in Hong Kong. According to the Office for National Statistics, net migration is down to 431,000 by June 2025, down 49.9% from 860,000 a year earlier.
Aid for asylum seekers could be halted
The new reforms, modeled after Denmark, would repeal the UK’s legal duty to provide assistance to asylum seekers, allowing the government to withdraw the housing and weekly allowances that are now guaranteed. Benefits may also be denied to people who have employment rights but do not work, and those who break the law or work illegally.
The refugee situation will also be regularly reviewed to see whether people can be safely repatriated. They will also have to wait 20 years instead of five to settle permanently.
Safer ways for migrants to claim asylum will also be specified, without the risk of crossing the unstable channel in overcrowded inflatable rafts.
While some political opponents said Conservative Party leader Mahmood’s proposals do not go far enough Kemi Badenoch Offered him support.
“What we’re seeing from the Labor government is a step in the right direction, so we want to encourage them in that right direction,” Badenoch said.
Noting Labor Party infighting, Richard Tice, deputy leader of the far-right Reform UK, joked that Mahmood looked as if she was “bringing in an application to join Reform.”
He said he would wait and see what was proposed before supporting the party, which is gaining support in the elections but has only five seats out of 650 in the House.
Labor denies courting the right
The partial embrace by figures on the right is likely to cause further nervousness in Labor as the party faces dire polling numbers, amid talk that Starmer could face potential leadership challenges just 18 months after a landslide election victory.
Starmer’s spokesman Tom Wells had to repeatedly deny that the government’s asylum plan was trying to favor far-right voters.
“We are an open, tolerant and liberal country, but we must restore order and control,” Wells said. “If we don’t do this, we will lose public consent to grant asylum.”
The Home Office said the new policy was based on Denmark’s success in reducing its asylum applications to its lowest point in 40 years and turning away 95% of people wishing to settle there.
Denmark was once a haven for refugees. But as Europe and the Western world have struggled to deal with the mass migration of people fleeing conflict, famine and poverty, it has imposed strict limits on newcomers, drawing international criticism for discouraging people from seeking asylum.