Closing summary
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said she rejects that dealing with illegal migration is engaging with far-right talking points and said the issue is “tearing this country apart”. “This is a moral mission for me because I can see that illegal migration is tearing our country apart,” she says. “It is dividing communities, people can see huge pressure in their communities and they can also see a system that is broken and where people are able to flout the rules, abuse the system and get away with it.”
Mahmood said she has the “misfortune” of looking at the way people smugglers are advertising and selling the “generosity” of Britain and that is driving people to get on small boats. “It is important that we send a signal,” she said, adding that she was been working with other European countries.
The government is going to make refugee status temporary and up for review every two-and-a-half years, Mahmood told Sky News. “That is changing the way that we look at refugee status,” she said.
The home secretary said that the government will create more “safe routes” for people to seek asylum in the UK as a way of stopping small boats. Asked about her own heritage, Mahmood said her parents came to Britain legally in the late 1960s and that is is “a moral mission” for her.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said 10,000 people have crossed the channel illegally in the 75 days since Mahmood became home secretary. He said Labour made a “huge mistake” in cancelling the Rwanda scheme with no alternative and says the UK must leave the ECHR.
Philp said the Tories will “support sensible steps” to deal with the asylum crisis but says Labour’s approach consists of “small steps in the right direction” and “gimmicks”. Speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, he said people who arrive illegally should not ever be granted asylum and ought to be removed within a week of arrival.
Wes Streeting has been accused of taking a “chaotic and incoherent approach” to reforming the NHS, which makes it unlikely the government will hit its own targets, according to a damning report by the Institute for Government (IfG). The report praises elements of how the health secretary has managed the health service in his first year in office, including improving performance and staff retention in hospitals.
Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has refused to rule out a return to frontline politics and called for party unity, condemning recent Labour infighting as “arrogant tittle tattle”. Speaking to the Daily Mirror during a constituency visit to a care centre, Rayner said recent reports of anonymous briefings and speculation over possible leadership manoeuvring was detached from the issues affecting everyday people.
Nature is not a blocker to housing growth, an inquiry by MPs has found, in direct conflict with claims made by ministers. Toby Perkins, the Labour chair of the environmental audit committee, said nature was being scapegoated, and that rather than being a block to growth, it was necessary for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods.
Britain’s budget watchdog is in danger of strangling growth and should be modernised to ditch its “hardwired” support for austerity economics, the TUC has warned. Less than two weeks before Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget, the trade union umbrella group said that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was at risk of being a “straitjacket” on growth in living standards.
The business secretary, Peter Kyle, has backed a shift to cleaner electric arc technology at the state-controlled British Steel plant, raising questions about the future of the UK’s last remaining blast furnaces. Kyle said the government was “keen to see that transition happen”, as he works on a new steel strategy, which is expected to be published in December.
“I know whenever I come back here next,” Nigel Farage told a jubilant crowd of hundreds in a leisure centre in Redruth, “Reform UK will become a dominant force, not just in Cornwall politics, but in British politics.”
That was in February and when the local elections arrived three months later it appeared Farage’s prophecy was in part coming true – Reform took 28 seats on Cornwall council, the highest number of any party.
But during his speech at Carn Brea leisure centre, Farage also warned his rapturous supporters “we have to convert theory into reality” – and reality in Cornwall is now biting.
Six months on from the local elections – after which Reform was unable to form an administration, leaving the Liberal Democrats and independents to set up a ruling coalition – the party’s presence in the county is in disarray following weeks of resignations, suspensions and infighting that mean Reform UK no longer holds the highest number of seats in the authority.
Critics say that along with the chaos in the Reform-led council of Kent, the farcical scenes in Cornwall, where Reform act as the official opposition are further evidence that the party is not capable of delivering beyond a protest vote.
The business secretary, Peter Kyle, has backed a shift to cleaner electric arc technology at the state-controlled British Steel plant, raising questions about the future of the UK’s last remaining blast furnaces.
Kyle said the government was “keen to see that transition happen”, as he works on a new steel strategy, which is expected to be published in December.
A shift to electric arc furnaces at Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, would secure the future of steel production at the plant – under emergency state control since April – as the UK tries to meet its target of net zero carbon emissions.
However, it would also raise doubts about the fate of blast furnaces that employ thousands of people, and the UK government’s previous pledges to preserve Britain’s primary steelmaking ability, producing steel from iron ore.
When the government recalled parliament in April to take control of British Steel, it feared the site’s Chinese owner, Jingye Steel, was planning to close it permanently, with the loss of as many as 2,700 jobs. Ministers have not yet outlined plans for Scunthorpe’s longer-term future.
Britain’s budget watchdog is in danger of strangling growth and should be modernised to ditch its “hardwired” support for austerity economics, the TUC has warned.
Less than two weeks before Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget, the trade union umbrella group said that the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was at risk of being a “straitjacket” on growth in living standards.
It called for an urgent review into the OBR’s role at the heart of the chancellor’s budget-setting process from the earliest opportunity after her 26 November tax and spending statement.
Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, told the Guardian: “I don’t think the chancellor, whatever happens at the budget, wants to go down the road of austerity 2.0.
“But we’ve got a fiscal watchdog that is effectively hardwired to support that slash-and-burn approach to our public services.”
Reeves is understood to be furious with the OBR over the timing of a revised productivity forecast that is expected to blow a hole in the public finances of up to £20bn at the budget, putting her fiscal rules in danger.
Nature is not a blocker to housing growth, an inquiry by MPs has found, in direct conflict with claims made by ministers.
Toby Perkins, the Labour chair of the environmental audit committee, said nature was being scapegoated, and that rather than being a block to growth, it was necessary for building resilient towns and neighbourhoods.
In its report on environmental sustainability and housing growth, the cross-party committee challenged the “lazy narrative”, which has been promoted by UK government ministers, that nature was a blocker or an inconvenience to delivering housing.
The report said severe skills shortages in ecology, planning and construction would be what made it impossible for the government to deliver on its housebuilding ambitions.
Perkins said: “The government’s target to build 1.5m homes by the end of this parliament is incredibly ambitious. Achieving it alongside our existing targets on climate and sustainability – which are set in law – will require effort on a scale not seen before.
“That certainly will not be achieved by scapegoating nature, claiming that it is a ‘blocker’ to housing delivery. We are clear in our report: a healthy environment is essential to building resilient towns and cities. It must not be sidelined.”
Streeting accused of ‘chaotic and incoherent approach’ to NHS reform
Wes Streeting has been accused of taking a “chaotic and incoherent approach” to reforming the NHS, which makes it unlikely the government will hit its own targets, according to a damning report by the Institute for Government (IfG).
The report praises elements of how the health secretary has managed the health service in his first year in office, including improving performance and staff retention in hospitals. Thepay settlement he reached with resident doctors last year avoided a winter plagued by NHS strikes
But it also criticises significant aspects of his performance, including the way he handled the abolition of NHS England and his lack of action to stem the exodus of senior GPs.
The findings threaten to puncture Streeting’s reputation after a turbulent week during which he was forced to deny accusations from allies of Keir Starmer that he was lining up a leadership challenge against the prime minister.
Stuart Hoddinott, the IfG’s associate director and the author of the report, said: “There have been some positive steps: performance is trending slowly upwards in hospitals, there’s been a genuinely large increase in GPs and the rate at which hospital staff are leaving their jobs is the lowest on record outside the pandemic.
“But that has been undermined by a chaotic and incoherent approach to reforming the service. The announcement of NHS England’s abolition was abysmally handled and management cuts in integrated care boards have been a needless distraction.”
Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s first 500 days in office have been “500 days of failure”, the SNP said.
The SNP highlighted issues such as pensioner winter fuel payments, the two-child benefit cap and the proposed “Brit cards”.
SNP Westminster deputy leader Pete Wishart said: “Five hundred days of Starmer has been 500 days of failure.”
He added: “From robbing pensioners of their winter fuel payments or the pledge to cut energy bills by £300, just about every promise the Labour party made has been broken.
“Vicious infighting has plagued Starmer’s first 500 days and caused utter chaos while the public face an economy in decline and a cost-of-living crisis made worse by the Labour party - it’s no wonder they’re languishing in fourth in the polls.”
Wishart continued: “I doubt bookies will give you odds on Starmer surviving another 500 days, but when he goes it’ll just be another instalment in the depressing tale of broken Brexit Britain.
“In May, Scots will have the chance to get rid of Starmer, be free of (Reform UK leader Nigel) Farage and have the chance to build a fresh start with independence - that is the prize and after that first 500 days, it’s no wonder more and more Scots are concluding that’s the way to create a wealthier and happier Scotland.”
Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has refused to rule out a return to frontline politics and called for party unity, condemning recent Labour infighting as “arrogant tittle tattle”.
Speaking to the Daily Mirror during a constituency visit to a care centre, Rayner said recent reports of anonymous briefings and speculation over possible leadership manoeuvring was detached from the issues affecting everyday people.
When quizzed if a return to frontline politics may be on the cards, the former deputy Labour leader told the newspaper she had not “gone away”.
She said: “I’m really humbled and I always have been, the people of Ashton-under-Lyne have always supported me.
“The 10 years that I’ve been in government I’ve had quite a number of front bench positions, and I’ve always brought it back to the people that I was there to represent and having this opportunity now, to be more in the constituency and to champion those views is something that I’m humbled to do and I’m looking forward to the challenge.
“I’ve got a lot of interests like child poverty, the fair pay agreement, and making sure the Employment Rights Bill is carried out in full.”
Labour 'fighting like rats in a sack', Chris Philp says
Just turning back to Philp’s earlier interview with Trevor Phillips on Sky News, he accused Labour of “fighting like rats in a sack”.
He claimed the Tories have moved on from party divisions, adding: “The Labour party are unable to do that. They are fighting like rats in a sack.
“You’ve got Keir Starmer briefing against Wes Streeting. You’ve got Angela Rayner sharpening the knives in the background.
“Goodness knows what Bridget Phillipson and Lucy Powell are both up to.
“Instead of serving the national interest, the Labour government are fighting each other just weeks away from a budget that will unleash enormous tax rises on this country that will drive up unemployment even further.”
Updated
Questioned on the row between Trump and the BBC, Philp says Trump is the “wronged party” and that the BBC should have apologised a lot faster.
However, he adds he does not think licence fee payers’ money should go towards compensation for the US president.
“We all work hard and pay our licence fee, I don’t think sending some of it over to Mar-a-Lago would be a smart thing to do,” he says.
And that concludes the interview.
Updated
Philp: 10,000 people have crossed channel illegally since Mahmood became home secretary
Philp says 10,000 people have crossed the channel illegally in the 75 days since Shabana Mahmood became home secretary.
He says Labour made a “huge mistake” in cancelling the Rwanda scheme with no alternative and says the UK must leave the ECHR.
Updated
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp has made it across Millbank and is now in the chair with Laura Kuenssberg.
He immediately launches into why the Tories would be “much tougher” on illegal immigration than Labour and repeats that people should be deported within a week of arrival.
“If someone’s come here legally and gets asylum, they could of course apply for a work visa,” he says. “I don’t think providing people with temporary protection should be a permanent right to stay.”
The only thing that will stop people getting on small boats is the knowledge they will be deported within a week, he says.
Asked about the chaos this week surrounding briefings against cabinet ministers and talk of replacing Keir Starmer as prime minister, the home secretary calls it “unacceptable”.
“One of the difficulties of these sorts of briefings is that is is very difficult to find out exactly who was responsible,” he says.
“But I hope that the individuals who were responsible – who are now feeling the abject humiliation of what has happened – that the humiliation will serve as a reminder that they should not indulge in a repeat performance.”
She says Starmer has made it clear that is was not acceptable.
Mahmood says she will not engage in hypothetical questions about a future run as Labour leader and also refuses to suggest what Starmer should say to US president Donald Trump over the BBC.
“The BBC needs to get its own house in order but its an institution that we absolutely support,” she concludes.
Home secretary: 'Illegal migration is tearing our country apart'
Mahmood says she is the “child of migrants” and rejects that dealing with illegal migration is engaging with far-right talking points.
“This is a moral mission for me because I can see that illegal migration is tearing our country apart,” she says.
“It is dividing communities, people can see huge pressure in their communities and they can also see a system that is broken and where people are able to flout the rules, abuse the system and get away with it.
“I am not willing to stand by a pretend there isn’t a problem, when I know there is one, and then suggest that any solution to that cannot work because I believe they can.”
She says she knows she has to persuade people across the country, and in parliament, that the government’s reforms can work in this area.
Updated
Mahmood says she has the “misfortune” of looking at the way people smugglers are advertising and selling the “generosity” of Britain and that is driving people to get on small boats.
“It is important that we send a signal,” she says, adding that she was been working with other European countries.
Kuenssberg asks if the govenment cannot bring down the cost of taxis for asylum seekers, how can they be trusted on the wider issue?
Mahmood says she inherited contracts and that she is “furious” about the cost to the taxpayer in relation to taxis. “Give us a little bit of time,” she says.
Updated
Ukrainian refugees expected to return home at end of war, home secretary says
Ukrainians are in the UK on a “bespoke scheme”, Mahmood says, and it is on a temporary basis.
If Ukraine becomes a safe country again and the conflict ends, “the principle of the new reforms are that if your country becomes safe then you will return,” she says.
Updated
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood is now speaking with Laura Kuenssberg, saying that the government wants to increase the number of removals.
Asked whether it is right that somebody’s status can be considered temporary for up to 20 years, she says it is right because some countries that have started in conflict have since become safe.
“It’s my job to make sure that the home office bureaucracy works,” she says. “One of my real frustrations … is often we have a set of rules and don’t enforce them properly.
“The totality of the reforms I will be setting out are designed to bring our system back into order and control.”
Asked whether he would make Britain a “hostile environment” by following the Danish approach of refusing to put asylum seekers in an area if it increases the percentage of “non-westerners” above a certain level, Philp says the answer is deportation within one week.
He says the only reason the Conservatives were unable to do any of this during its 14 years of government was because of the ECHR.
“The numbers coming into this country, both legally and illegally, for many years now [have been] far, far too high,” he says.
“We need to see a society where there is a British society and a British culture. Without that, you have a divided country.”
He estimates there are between one and two million people currently in the UK and says that “they should be removed.”
Tories brand Labour asylum reforms 'small steps' and 'gimmicks'
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp says the Tories will “support sensible steps” to deal with the asylum crisis but says Labour’s approach consists of “small steps in the right direction” and “gimmicks”.
Also speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News, he says people who arrive illegally should not ever be granted asylum and ought to be removed within a week of arrival.
“The Conservative party is under new leadership,” he says. “Kemi Badenoch was never prime minister, I was never home secretary. We now have a different approach.”
He says the UK needs to leave the ECHR and that it was responsible for stopping the Rwanda scheme, which was cancelled following Labour’s election win in 2024.
Updated
Mahmood: 'No time for tittle tattle' in response to Labour leadership briefings
Mahmood is asked about whether the prime minister and should consider his position.
She says she “has no time” for tittle tattle and says every minister has an important job to do.
“We should be focused on delivering for the British people,” she says. “I have no time for things people say either privately or anonymously.
“If people have things to say, they should have the courage of their convictions to say so publicly.”
Updated
The home secretary says the government will create more “safe routes” for people to seek asylum in the UK as a way of stopping small boats.
Asked about her own heritage, Mahmood says her parents came to Britain legally in the late 1960s and that is is “a moral mission” for her.
“This is a broken system,” she says. “I’m not willing to stand back and watch my country be divided.”
Trevor Phillips asks Mahmood about the upcoming budget but Mahmood says she will not speculate on what the chancellor will do.
Mahmood says she will announce tomorrow what the government will do to deal with Article 8 of the ECHR in relation to people’s right to a family life.
She is asked whether she will make it “really uncomfortable” for asylum seekers to be in the UK and if she aims to create a “hostile environment”.
“I’m sending a clear signal to people: do not get on a boat,” she says. “We want to disincentivise the behaviour that is drawing people dangerously across the channel.”
Mahmood says refugee status to be reviewed every two-and-a-half years
The government is going to make refugee status temporary and up for review every two-and-a-half years, Mahmood tells Sky News.
“That is changing the way that we look at refugee status,” she says.
She says one of the draws to the UK for people is the family reunification rights, which was halted by her predecessor.
“Firstly, we are clamping down on illegal working in this country and have announced new checks with digital ID,” she says.
Updated
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood is speaking to Trevor Phillips on Sky News this morning and has said that she has had “good conversations” with French interior ministers over plans to tackle to small boats crisis.
Mahmood says her proposals “will change the calculus” of people getting on to small boats.
She says the ‘one in, one out’ policy is showing organised people smugglers that it is “not worth your time”.
“We have already prevented 20,000 channel crossings,” she says. “We need to reduce those pull factors … illegal migration is causing huge divides in this country”.
Government set to make support for asylum seekers ‘discretionary’
Good morning and welcome to the UK politics live blog. My name is Tom Ambrose and I will be bringing you all the latest news lines this morning.
We start with news that Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce changes to Britain’s asylum system on Monday in an attempt to quell rising fears about immigration.
The home secretary plans to amend laws that guarantee housing and financial support to asylum seekers who would otherwise be destitute.
The government said assistance will become “discretionary”, meaning it will be able to deny help to those who can work or have assets.
Mahmood has pitched the package of proposals as “the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in modern times”, designed to “restore control and fairness to the system”.
She added: “This country has a proud tradition of welcoming those fleeing danger, but our generosity is drawing illegal migrants across the Channel. The pace and scale of migration is placing immense pressure on communities.”
However, the majority of asylum seekers currently receiving support are unlikely to be affected. Government sources said rules that mean most asylum seekers are not allowed to have jobs will not change.
There are about 100,000 people in receipt of asylum support in the UK, the vast majority of whom are accommodated by the state. About a third remain in hotels, although Labour has pledged to end this practice by 2029.
About 8,500 people in asylum accommodation have the right to work because they entered the country on a visa and later claimed asylum.
Mahmood is doing the Sunday morning media round, so expect lines from that shortly. However, in the meantime, here is our full story:
