Markus Andrews

Labour’s move to toughen Britain’s asylum rules has landed with a thud of uneasy acceptance among Independent readers. Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has insisted the system is “broken” and in urgent need of order – and many commenters said Labour is simply confronting political realities that can’t be ignored any longer, even if the tone made some uncomfortable.But that reluctant support was matched by flashes of frustration. A smaller, outspoken group fear the party is drifting too close to the Reform playbook, especially after the government revealed plans to overhaul human rights laws and change how the ECHR is interpreted to make deportations easier. For these readers, proposals to limit rights to family life, speed up removals and even bar certain countries from UK visas risk validating the narratives Labour once resisted and chips away at the party’s values.What united readers was not a single viewpoint, but a shared sense of wrestling with the trade-offs. Some saw the move by Labour as necessary reform, while others saw a worrying shift to the right – with many left wishing the choices weren’t quite so stark.Here’s what you had to say:Grasp the nettleAny endorsement from [Tommy] Robinson is not a good look. However, the asylum/immigration nettle has got to be grasped (it should have been done years ago) and all credit to Mahmood for doing so. Immigration numbers, both legal and illegal, over the last decade have been far too high and need curtailing. Those Labour backbenchers complaining should represent the majority of voters’ wishes who, along with the NHS and the cost of living, continually put ‘immigration’ at the top of their concerns.Noverngit1Copying Reform’s playbookWhen you’ve got the likes of Tommy Robinson, Nigel Farage and Kemi Badenoch supporting your asylum policy, you seriously need to take a step back and question what on earth you’re playing at.In post-Brexit Britain it’s very hard to see how anyone – especially anyone from the Labour Party – can out-do Farage on his cruel plans for asylum seekers, and yet here we are.Copying Reform’s playbook allows Farage to own the issue because he’ll drive the debate further to the right and, in doing so, he’ll take the Labour Party with him.Labour’s harsh and vindictive policy on asylum seekers will gift the far right the advantage and it’ll leave the party looking cruel and incompetent in the process.Big mistake, because Labour cannot out-Farage the far right and it’ll only be their downfall if they try.AmyTalking toughThe hope for a reasoned debate on immigration and asylum has gone. I think we are at a point where any party that does not talk tough on immigration knows that it has no chance at the next election. Labour are in the unfortunate position of being in charge when the music stopped, so more than simply talking tough (and probably failing to deliver on most of it), they have to actually do something.Stanley OliverThe ECHR protects everybodyThe ECHR protects everybody in the UK and beyond. It gives the right to privacy, the freedom of expression, to assembly, to free and fair elections (sadly nothing about democratic elections), the right to life, right to a fair trial, to belief, and so many others. You remove these rights from one, you remove them from everybody.As for interfering in the courts, what chance does anybody have of a fair trial if the home secretary is interfering? This is the reason why we need the European Convention/Court of Human Rights. Would you trust a far-right politician with your rights? The ECHR is the last resort and is neutral, rather than government ordering judges.LadyCrumpsallThese policies are eminently sensible. Young men arriving illegally by small boat, seeking asylum from France! We shouldn’t really be paying for their food, board and mobile phones with limited taxpayer resources.Skilled migration through legal routes is something very different, and we shouldn’t be deporting migrants who positively contribute.TradehunterMany are not against helping those in needMany, perhaps most, are not against helping those in need (like Afghan women judges, doctors and teachers) but want to be able to do so in accordance with certain criteria: numbers limited to those readily assimilable, those genuinely in need, ability to make a net contribution, willingness to adapt etc. This is not far right or intolerant, but reflects a love of country, community and humanity.BruxelloisWe have to do somethingThere has to be a deterrent, particularly for those coming on the boats. Whilst these are strong measures, as long as they are implemented fairly I think it is a good thing. We have to do something – doing nothing isn’t an option.MarkieWhy vote for a party cosplaying Reform?Emulating the ultra-right has not brought voters back to Labour-like parties anywhere in Europe, neither has holding on to neo-liberal economics. Both have only estranged voters from the left, while gaining no votes from the right who can get those policies even more extreme somewhere else. Why would you vote for a party cosplaying Reform (or the Tories when right-wing economics is your choice) when you can vote for the real thing?Gom JabbarA chance to do something worthwhileA good Labour MP supports measures which will stop Reform getting into power, because if they reject all measures, that will surely happen. There is a chance to do something worthwhile without going all Reform and therefore keeping open the chance of re-election.For instance, I would favour more returns (how are Germany happy to send folk back to Afghanistan when we aren’t?) and blocking all legit migrants from countries which won’t agree to a returns policy (the ruling classes in those countries will fall in line). There are others which aren’t evil and in total might stop the far right deciding the issue. Pragmatism doesn’t look abundant with Labour MPs though – look at welfare reform.MasterofnothingA whole lot of greyAs I see it, this is going too far (especially with the 20 years to become citizens/settled).However, we also have a big issue in that too many people see everything as black and white, when there is a whole lot of grey here. We need to accept non-perfect compromise as being reality.It’s not “welcome everyone who crosses” but neither is it “deport all the foreigners”.I think that Labour are at least trying to address this.Does it go too far in places? I think so, yes. But is it better than doing nothing? Definitely.On the ‘return hubs’:This is nothing like Rwanda. Rwanda was sending everyone away. This is sending away people who aren’t seeking asylum/refugees. That seems reasonable to me (especially once formal routes to apply are set up).Someone182The narrative has been overtaken by far-right liesI rather reluctantly agree with the hardening of the rules because the narrative has been completely overtaken by far-right lies and half-truths. The volume of irregular migrants staying in the UK, be it by boat or by overstaying, is around 400,000 over the last four years. While violent crime is at its lowest in over 20 years and forecast to be even lower this year, all the fear-mongering by the right wing is just that. They are using the issue as a divisive tool to split society.I know a couple of friends who have been ‘informing’ me of ‘facts’ they got on social media, and I then go away and check with Gen AI. It is half-truths deliberately twisting the issue to something negative. Negative social media threads that are enraging people are completely everywhere. This is against a group who are one of the most vulnerable in the UK.Migration does put pressure on the UK, especially as migrants are not allowed to contribute to society while waiting to be processed. And the Boris wave of legal migration puts pressure on housing and schools. It has come down by around 50 per cent recently. The real questions are: why did that huge wave not provide any growth? The huge damage of Brexit and the massive profits taken away from the UK are not benefiting the public. How can we reverse that?TheframeHumane mannerShabana Mahmood’s proposed amendments to the ECHR will be a positive step in the right direction. These changes, once they become effective, will not prevent genuine asylum seekers from receiving the long-term protection they need. It is of vital importance that the UK officials who deal with immigration do not lose their sense of fairness and compassion when processing applicants.Of equal importance, the facility to remove applicants who do not fit the necessary criteria – especially those from criminal or terrorist backgrounds – will be made much easier. I really hope that the forthcoming laws will operate in a humane manner too.JanetCSome of the comments have been edited for this article for brevity and clarity.Want to share your views? Simply register your details below. Once registered, you can comment on the day’s top stories for a chance to be featured. Alternatively, click ‘log in’ or ‘register’ in the top right corner to sign in or sign up.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here. More

Sir Keir Starmer has defiantly vowed to lead Labour into the next general election, after his party was mired in a leadership and briefing scandal. The prime minister criticised the speculation over his future as time-wasting, and stressed that his focus remained on reducing the cost of living crisis and helping British families. Asked if he would lead Labour into the next election, he told The Mirror: “Yes, I will. Let me be really clear – every minute that’s not spent talking about and dealing with the cost of living is a minute wasted of the political work of this Government. “That’s my response to last week. I remain utterly focused on what matters to me most, which is bearing down on the cost of living and making people feel better off.”Sir Keir Starmer has been Prime Minister since July 2024 (Kirsty Wigglesworth/PA) More

Former Conservative MP Danny Kruger has welcomed Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s “rhetoric,” and even jokingly suggested that she might join him in defecting to Reform UK. Despite this initial praise, Mr Kruger expressed significant reservations to MPs, fearing that new asylum policies would not “stop the lawfare” he claims failed asylum seekers use to delay and block their removal from the country.Ms Mahmood unveiled a series of measures on Monday, explicitly designed to “tackle the pull factors that draw people into this country”.These include plans to remove benefits from refugees who “are able to work but choose not to.” The Home Secretary also vowed to narrow the UK’s interpretation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protects the right to respect for private and family life. Under the proposed changes, a “family” would be defined solely as “parents and their children,” and asylum seekers would only be permitted to lodge claims using this right if they are already present in the UK.Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the moves as “baby steps, but positive”.Danny Kruger, left, defected from the Conservative Party to join Reform More

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has unveiled a new strategy to “restore order and control” to the UK’s asylum system, taking inspiration from Denmark.The reforms, outlined in a 33-page document titled Restoring Order and Control published on Monday, are aimed to make Britain a less appealing destination for illegal migrants and to simplify their removal, Ms Mahmood informed MPs.Here, we look at what is in the policy document outlining the government’s plans, and what is in the Danish system said to have inspired it.What changes is the Government making?Refugee status will become temporary and subject to review every 30 months under a “core protection” offer. Refugees will be removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe. The wait for permanent settlement will be quadrupled to 20 years.New safe and legal routes to the UK will be introduced as a way to cut dangerous journeys in small boats across the English Channel. For those arriving on these resettlement routes for work and study they could be offered long-term status in 10 years, subject to consultation.Local communities will be able to sponsor individual refugees in a model similar to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, in which people hosted those in need in their homes.Refugees in the UK under “core protection” will be encouraged to switch to a new “protection work and study” route if they get a job or study at the appropriate level and pay fees. They will be able to earn earlier settlement this way.There will be no automatic right to family reunion for refugees unless they successfully enter the “protection work and study” route and become eligible to sponsor family members joining them in the UK, such as by earning a minimum-set salary, under the same conditions as legal migrants and UK citizens.The Government will revoke the legal duty to provide asylum seeker support, introduced in 2005 via EU law. This means housing and weekly allowances will be discretionary and no longer be guaranteed for asylum seekers.Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood made a statement to the House of Commons on the proposed asylum system More

Sir Keir Starmer and his home secretary are facing an angry backlash over their plans to toughen up Britain’s asylum system, with Labour MPs describing the new rules as “repugnant” and “performatively cruel”.Shabana Mahmood unveiled a raft of hardline measures on Monday aimed at discouraging asylum seekers and making it easier to remove those who have no right to remain in the country.The prime minister said the current system was not designed to cope with a “more volatile and insecure” world – but Ms Mahmood’s announcement went much further than many in Labour had feared and is already facing resistance from backbenchers.Shabana Mahmood said the asylum system is broken More

Former chancellor Lord Ken Clarke has warned Rachel Reeves’ “disastrous bad practice” of allowing her budget to be briefed before it is delivered has “produced an air of gloom over the economy”.The respected former chancellor has also called on Ms Reeves to reconsider her decision not to increase income tax and instead raise it by 2p.Lord Clarke helped turn around the UK economy after black Wednesday in 1992 which forced the pound out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. He offered his advice to the current chancellor in an interview on Radio 4’s PM programme on Monday (17 November), as she faces a potential economic crisis.Lord Ken Clarke (Infected Blood Inquiry/PA) More

The British government’s plan to tighten its asylum system met sharp resistance Monday from inside its own party but was getting some support from political rivals in a sign of how divisive the immigration issue has become.Before Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood even released details of the sweeping plan to make the U.K. less attractive to asylum-seekers and migrants easier to remove she was trying to quell a backlash from center-left Labour Party backbenchers who accused her of trying to court the far-right.“It’s shameful that a Labour government is ripping up the rights and protections of people who have endured unimaginable trauma,” said Nadia Whittome, a Labour member of Parliament from Nottingham who called the proposed policies “cruel” and “dystopian.” “Is this how we’d want to be treated if we were fleeing for our lives? Of course, not.”Mahmood said her plans, which she partially released over the weekend, could fix a broken asylum system and unite a divided country over a flashpoint issue that has helped fuel the rise of the anti-immigrant Reform UK Party.“We have a problem that it is our moral duty to fix — our asylum system is broken,” Mahmood said in the House of Commons. “The breaking of that asylum system is causing huge division across our whole country.”Mahmood said the new policy would deter migrants who don’t stay in the first safe country where they land, but instead “asylum shop” across Europe for the most attractive place to settle. The struggle to stop the boats Halting the flow of migrants making dangerous English Channel crossings to enter the country without authorization has vexed successive governments that have tried a variety of approaches with little success.The previous center-right Conservative government’s plan to send arrivals to Rwanda for asylum processing was challenged in court and scrapped by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, when he was elected last year. Starmer has vowed to crack down on migrant smuggling gangs 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 that occasionally became violent were held outside hotels housing asylum seekers after a migrant was arrested — and later convicted — of sexual assault for trying to kiss a 14-year-old girl.More than 39,000 migrants have arrived by boat in the U.K. this year, surpassing the almost 37,000 who arrived in 2024, according to the latest Home Office figures. However, the number is still shy of the nearly 40,000 who had arrived at this point in the year in 2022, which recorded the highest number ever. Although arrivals on small boats have grown, they are a fraction of total immigration, with most people entering the U.K. legally, on visas. Net migration — the number of people entering the U.K. minus those who left — topped 900,000 in the year ending June 2023, largely driven by hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war in Ukraine and China’s clampdown in Hong Kong. Net migration declined to 431,000 in the year through June 2025, according to the Office for National Statistics, down 49.9% from 860,000 a year earlier. Support for asylum seekers could be withheld The new reforms, modeled after Denmark, would revoke the U.K.’s legal duty to provide support for asylum seekers, allowing the government to withdraw housing and weekly allowances that are now guaranteed. Benefits could also be denied to people who have a right to employment but don’t work, and those who break the law or work illegally.Refugee status would also be regularly reviewed to see if people can safely be repatriated. They will also have to wait 20 years, instead of five, to be permanently settled.Safe ways would also be designated for migrants to claim asylum without having to risk crossing the choppy channel in overcrowded inflatable rafts.While some political opponents said Mahmood’s proposals don’t go far enough, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch offered her support.“What we are seeing from the Labour government is steps in the right direction, so we want to encourage them in that right direction,” Badenoch said.Noting the Labour Party infighting, Richard Tice, deputy leader of the hard-right Reform UK, joked that Mahmood sounded like she’s “bringing an application to join Reform.”He said he would wait and see what was proposed before committing the support of the party, which has growing support in the polls but only has five of the 650 seats in the House. Labour denies courting far-right The partial embrace by figures on the right is likely to create further Labour consternation as the party faces dreadful polling numbers amid buzz that Starmer could face possible leadership challenges just 18 months after a landslide election victory. Starmer spokesperson Tom Wells repeatedly had to deny the government’s asylum plan was trying to curry favor with far-right voters.“We are an open, tolerant and generous country, but we must restore order and control,” Wells said. “If we do not, we will lose public consent for giving refuge at all.”The Home Office said the new policy was modeled on Denmark’s success at reducing its asylum applications to the lowest point in 40 years and removing 95% of those who sought to settle there. Denmark was once a haven for refugees. But as Europe and the Western world have struggled to deal with mass migration from people fleeing conflict, famine and poverty, it has imposed strict limits on newcomers that have drawn international criticism for discouraging people seeking refuge. More

Rachel Reeves is reportedly expected to introduce a ‘milkshake tax’ in next week’s Budget as she tries to plug the gap in the public finances. The chancellor had been expected to breach a Labour’s manifesto promise by increasing income tax. But The Financial Times last week reported she has abandoned those plans over fears they could anger voters and Labour MPs.Now, the chancellor could be expected to change a number of smaller taxes in an attempt to balance the books.Among them could be a tax on milkshakes, as The Telegraph reports that Ms Reeves is preparing to end an exemption that milk-based drinks have from the levy on soft drinks.The Soft Drinks Industry Levy currently applies to soft drinks with added sugar and it means that the producers pay at least 18p per litre on soft drinks containing 5g or more of sugar per 100ml.The levy does not currently apply to dairy-based drinks, but Ms Reeves is planning to end that exemption, as well as reducing the threshold to 4g of sugar per 100ml, according to the Telegraph.Conservative shadow chancellor Mel Stride criticised the reported move, saying: “If these reports are true, Labour’s new milkshake tax moves the goalposts yet again for an industry that’s already cut sugar and made changes responsibly.“It will see businesses that played by the rules punished, with products suddenly dragged into the tax net – all to save Rachel Reeves’s skin.”The Independent approached the Treasury for comment. A spokesperson declined to comment on Budget speculation.It comes as speculation mounts regarding the forthcoming budget. The rumours are partly to blame for weaker-than-expected economic growth figures, according to the former top economist at the Bank of England.Andy Haldane, who was chief economist at the Bank until 2021, told Sky News’s Mornings With Ridge And Frost that the build-up to the Budget has been a “circus” and called for the process to be overhauled to prevent leaks that can damage the economy.It follows official figures last week that revealed economic growth slowed to 0.1 per cent in the third quarter, down from 0.3 per cent in the previous three months and worse than most economists predicted.Ms Reeves blamed the weaker performance on the Jaguar Land Rover production shutdown in the wake of its cyber attack, with gross domestic product (GDP) declining by 0.1 per cent during September after the fallout hit activity in the manufacturing sector.But Mr Haldane said the Budget rumours had “without any shadow of a doubt” had a direct impact on growth.He told Sky News the upcoming Budget has been a “real circus that’s been in town for months and months now”.He said: “It’s caused businesses and consumers to hunker down.“One of the reasons we had a very weak growth number last week is because there’s that Budget speculation… (it’s) dampened people’s willingness to spend.“And first and foremost, we need to stop that speculation.” More