Downing Street has warned Labour MPs it expects them to back radical plans to make the UK less attractive to migrants and refugees, as some backbenchers said they expected fierce resistance to proposals that one called “economically and culturally illiterate”.
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, will set out her revamp of the asylum and migration system on Monday, with officials saying it will draw heavily on ideas used in Denmark, which has tight limits on family reunions and sends some refugees back if conditions improve in their home countries.
The Home Office plan will also include already-mooted ideas to change the way the European convention on human rights (ECHR) is interpreted by UK judges so as to make it easier to remove people without lengthy court cases.
Government officials are billing Mahmood’s crackdown as robust but also the only way to restore public trust in the asylum system, and to potentially see off the threat of a Reform UK government that would dismantle asylum altogether.
Asked if the government was confident backbenchers would not seek to block the plans, as they did in June with welfare measures, a Downing Street spokesperson said this would not be tolerated.
“The government was elect on a mandate to secure our borders,” he said. “And while I’m not going to speculate ahead of the home secretary’s announcement, we are focused on the need to fix the mess we inherited and restore order and control to our asylum system.”
However, the briefing of elements of the plan to rightwing newspapers, and particularly the emphasis on using the model of Denmark, which severely restricts family reunions and in some cases asks asylum seekers to hand over jewellery or other valuables to cover costs, prompted an immediate reaction among some Labour MPs.
“It’s economically and culturally illiterate,” one said. “Are we really going to take the wedding rings of victims of trafficking, tell Ukrainians they can never put down roots?”
Another MP said they expected widespread scepticism among colleagues. “The policy of chasing Reform will not build confidence but fear and does not represent the values the Labour party holds,” they said.
Another expressed doubt that the plans would pass a Commons vote. “Getting something this controversial through when strong would have been tough. But frankly any Labour MP that has seen their majority destroyed by the rise in the Lib Dems and Greens will likely say no,” the MP said. “Weak governments don’t get to push through controversial policy.”
Expected changes to the use of the ECHR to be announced by Mahmood would include requiring judges to prioritise public safety over migrants’ rights to a family life, or the risk that they would face “inhuman” treatment if returned to their home country.
Home Office officials described the plans as “the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times”.
Before next week’s announcement, the Home Office announced it had removed or deported 48,560 people from the UK since Labour came to power.
The figure, which includes refused asylum seekers, foreign criminals and others with no right to be in the UK, is a 23% increase in removals compared with the 16 months before last year’s election.
Despite the removals, small boat crossings continue to be a political headache for the government. So far this year, 39,075 people have made the journey, up 19% on the same point in 2024.
One government official said MPs should face up to the huge public disquiet about an asylum and immigration system they believed was out of control.
“We know levels of migration and asylum are putting huge pressures on communities,” they said. “Our generosity is drawing people in and the system is being gamed.
“If we don’t do this, there risks being no asylum system at all, particularly if it means Reform win the election. But there will be progressive elements. Denmark is a fair, tolerant and open country, with a centre-left government that has fought off the hard right through difficult choices.”
While this is an argument endorsed by a number of Labour MPs, especially those in seats where Reform UK will be the expected main challenger at the next election, others fear the government is putting off progressive voters and shedding mass support to the left, particularly to Zack Polanski’s Green party.
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