Labour MP Nadia Whittome describes government’s asylum plans as ‘dystopian’ and ‘cruel’
During Home Office questions in the Commons the Labour MP Nadia Whittome described the asylum plans being proposed by the government as “dystopian”.
She said:
The Denmark-style policies briefed in the last couple of days are dystopian.
It’s shameful that a Labour government is ripping up the rights and protections of people who have endured unimaginable trauma. Is this how we’d want to be treated if we were fleeing for our lives? Of course, not.
How can we be adopting such obviously cruel policies? Is the home secretary proud that the government has sunk such that it is now being praised by Tommy Robinson?
Responding to Whittome, Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, replied:
I’m disappointed at the nature of the question from my friend. I hope she will look at the detail of the reforms, and what I’ve said already on these matters is that we have a problem, that it is our moral duty to fix, our asylum system is broken. The breaking of that asylum system is causing huge division across our whole country.
Key events
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Labour MP Nadia Whittome describes government’s asylum plans as ‘dystopian’ and ‘cruel’
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Asylum policy not just ‘morally wrong’, but ‘politically disastrous’ too, says Labour MP Richard Burgon
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Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice complains about Send children wearing ear defenders in schools
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Plaid Cymru and SNP condemn ‘performative cruelty’ of Labour’s asylum plans
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BBC chair Samir Shah tells staff Trump has ‘no basis’ for libel case and corporation ‘determined’ to fight it
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Mahmood’s asylum statement delayed until after 5pm, after speaker grants 3 UQs
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Reform UK deputy leader won’t criticise student wing president who says UK-born BAME people not necessarily British
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No 10 defends asylum plans, saying voters want system brought under control
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Trump and Starmer have yet to speak about BBC and $1bn damages claim, despite president proposing call over weekend
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Labour MP Sarah Owen describes jewellery removal threat in asylum plan as ‘repugnant’
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Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed says asylum plans likely to create further ‘chaos, cost and division’
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Asylum seekers won’t lose ‘family heirlooms’ under plan to make them contribute if they have assets, minister says
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Labour MP Simon Opher criticises asylum plans, saying party should challenge Reform UK’s ‘racist agenda’, not ‘echo it’
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‘Truly frightening’ and ‘awful’ – Diane Abbott condemns government’s asylum plans
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Reform UK and Tories claim Labour’s proposed asylum changes won’t be implemented
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Minister rejects claim new, hardline policies risk stigmatising asylum seekers as cheats
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Minister suggests most asylum seekers would be able to avoid 20-year wait for permanent settlement under new rules
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Changing how courts interpret ECHR unlikely to have big impact on asylum returns, Labour MP says
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Why Labour is going Danish on immigration – podcast
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Starmer braced for backlash from Labour MPs as Mahmood sets out asylum plans
Richard Burgon claims the asylum policies being announced today won’t help Labour win back voters are now more inclined to back other progressive parties. (See 3.03pm.)
But it is probably important to differentiate between that people think about the rhetoric the government is using (for example, Shabana Mahmood telling the Sunday Times at the weekend that being granted asylum in the UK amounted to a “golden ticket”), and the policies being proposed.
Luke Tryl from More in Common has released some polling suggesting ideas similar to those being announced by the government are broadly popular with people who voted Labour last year. More in Common asked about measures introduced in Denmark, after it was reported that the Home Office plans were in part inspired by recent Danish ones. The proposals are less popular with people currently supporting the Greens, but even this cohort is more in favour than opposed.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, has joined those criticising the government for saying the government saying it might take jewellery from asylum seekers to help cover the costs of processing their applications. He said:
This proposal has deeply troubling echoes of some of the worst treatment of refugees in history. The government is losing sight of the fact that we are talking about real people who have fled unimaginable horrors in places like Sudan and Afghanistan and arrived here with almost nothing. To take away the few precious belongings they still have would be cruel.
Sunder Katwala, director of the British Future thinktank, has also highlighted some problems with this proposal in a thread of Bluesky.
The Labour government will articulate a principle that a person who meets the criteria of being a refugee (have a genuine fear of persecution, sufficient to have to leave their home) has a responsibility to contribite to the cost of a democratic society meeting its obligation to hear that claim
Lots of good contributory principles in society. They are foundational to social democracy. Eg rights & responsibilities, pay tax for public services, welfare
There are need-based principles in society, that are foundational to social democracy. Eg if you have cancer we don’t assess your assets
It will be interesting to see if the Home Secretary are asked to articulate why this principle applies here.
Visa migrants pay high fees + NHS surcharges. They should contribute because they may be taking out. (We overcharge them – on NHS surcharge, on visa + citizenship fees. Captive market)
Economic migrants gain from migration. The UK state seeks to extract some of those gains. This meets fairness and contribution legitimate concerns (in theory, though the public are unaware of the NHS surcharge). We get away with overcharging: monopoly supplier of visas. There are gains
Asylum policy not just ‘morally wrong’, but ‘politically disastrous’ too, says Labour MP Richard Burgon
The leftwing Labour MP Richard Burgon has become the latest government backbencher to issue a statement condemning the asylum plans. In a statement on social media, he expresses alarm about the fact that the approach has been welcomed by Tommy Robinson. (See 1.06pm.) And he says “this approach isn’t just morally wrong; it’s politically disastrous.” He explains:
Labour voters who have abandoned the party will not be won back by this. They haven’t flocked to Reform but mainly to other progressive parties or now simply say they don’t know who to vote for. Many who have stuck with Labour so far will be repulsed by these attacks on vulnerable people fleeing war and persecution.
Poll after poll shows the cost-of-living crisis remains the single biggest issue in British politics. That is what the Labour leadership should be relentlessly focused on. That is how to win back voters.
Instead, this failing Labour leadership is choosing to fight on terrain set by Farage. In doing so, it is paving the way for the first far-right government in our history.
The latest episode of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast is out. In it, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey are discussing the asylum plans.
The Green MP Carla Denyer is also using the phrase “performative cruelty” to describe the government saying it might take jewellery from asylum seekers to help cover the costs of processing their applications. She says:
This is a new low from a govt plumbing the depths of performative cruelty in hopes that the public won’t notice they have no answers to the real issues facing this country
A sensible, humane govt would focus on safe routes to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice complains about Send children wearing ear defenders in schools
Peter Walker
Peter Walker is the Guardian’s senior political correspondent.
Some middle class parents are gaming the system to get underserved special education needs (Send) support for their children in state schools specifically to avoid paying private school fees made higher due to the imposition of VAT, Richard Tice has argued.
Speaking at a press conference in London, the Reform UK deputy leader said also there was “a crisis of over diagnosis of children with neurodiverse issues” and said that ear defenders, which can help students with autism or other sensory sensitivities focus on class, should be banned.
Talking about what he said was the unnecessarily rapid increase in Send diagnoses, and children given education, health and care plans (EHCPs), which give them extra assistance in school, Tice said:
One of the key issues here is these EHCPs, middle class parents playing the game in order to save the VAT on independent school fees. If you get the EHCP you don’t pay the VAT, so they’re employing solicitors in order to file their claims.
Tice called for an end to EHCP reports every year, and to end the use of specialists to assess children’s needs.
From the experts and the teachers that I’ve spoken to and the officers, the best thing to do, actually, is to push it, almost all of it, back to the schools. The schools know best, the teachers know best. And stop labelling people. Just say you need a bit of extra support.
Such was the over-diagnosis of conditions, Tice argued that “children who don’t have any form of label now sometimes feel left out”.
He singled out the use of ear defenders in classrooms as a problem, without expaining why.
The sight of children in classes wearing ear defenders – I’m sorry, this is just insane. It’s got to stop. The teachers want it to stop. Heads wanting to stop. It’s not the right way forwards.
Autistic children in particular are often highly sensitive to noise, and some of them wear ear defenders in a classroom setting to minimise the distress they can experience from hearing yelling.
Plaid Cymru and SNP condemn ‘performative cruelty’ of Labour’s asylum plans
The SNP and Plaid Cymru have both accused the government of facilitating Nigel Farage’s agenda with its asylum plans.
In a statement, Pete Wishart, the SNP deputy leader at Westminster, said:
It is outrageous that Labour is considering kicking people out who have been in the country for up to 20 years.
That would mean families torn apart, communities destabilised, and people denied the chance to contribute – and Labour can’t even offer reassurance to Ukrainians who have become part of every community across the country …
It’s no wonder people feel let down by Labour – prices are soaring, wages are stagnating and households are at breaking point, but Labour’s primary focus is on fighting each other and pandering to Nigel Farage.
And Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid leader at Westminster, said:
With this announcement, Labour is bowing to the populist right, enabling Nigel Farage’s agenda by trading principles for lazy soundbites. Their proposals will punish people who have already endured unimaginable hardship. To confiscate personal belongings and leave families in bureaucratic limbo for up to 20 years is neither necessary nor just …
Clear rules and controls are necessary. But rules without humanity corrode trust and fuel division. The measure of a civilised country is not how many people it turns away, but how it treats the most vulnerable.
Plaid Cymru will reject performative cruelty. We stand for decency, fairness, and compassion. That is vital if we are to keep communities safe, maintain trust in systems, and uphold our values.
The Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey told the BBC’s Politics Live she was worried about some of the language being used by the government to defend its asylum proposals. She told the programme:
I’ll be honest; I think some of the language that we’ve seen coming from government in recent months has fed into that divisive rhetoric and I want to see that change today.
I’m sure all MPs in my party are prepared to have discussions with the government about what a fair and humane immigration system can look like, but not if we’re trying to feed into the rhetoric of quite far-right organisations, quite frankly.
BBC chair Samir Shah tells staff Trump has ‘no basis’ for libel case and corporation ‘determined’ to fight it
The BBC chair, Samir Shah, has told staff that the corporation is “determined” to fight any defamation action brought by Donald Trump. The president has no case, Shah says.
In a note to staff seen by PA Media, Shah says:
There is a lot being written, said and speculated upon about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements.
In all this we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our licence fee payers, the British public.
I want to be very clear with you – our position has not changed. There is no basis for a defamation case and we are determined to fight this.
Last week I took the opportunity to speak with the executive team and am reassured of their resolute focus on ensuring the BBC continues to deliver on behalf of audiences and staff.
I know they plan to spend as much time as possible with their teams over the coming weeks to reinforce the importance of that work and answer your questions.
Mahmood’s asylum statement delayed until after 5pm, after speaker grants 3 UQs
There will be three urgent questions in the Commons after 3.30pm. That means that Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, will not start her asylum statement until after 5pm – and probably nearer 5.30pm, or perhaps even later.
The UQs are, in order:
A Treasury minister responding to a Tory UQ on “briefings to the press about the contents of the budget”.
An energy minister responding to a Plaid Cymru UQ about the new modular nuclear reactors being built at Wylfa.
And an environment minister responding to a Lib Dem UQ about the Environment Agency and the dumping of waste in the countryside.
This announcement won’t be welcome by the media, because it means Mahmood will still be responding to questions in the Commons by the time the main evening news bulletins start going out, and reporters file their first stories for the morning papers.
Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, is the person who decides whether or not to allow UQs, and he may be angry that the Home Office has already announced much of what’s in the asylum policy over the weekend. Ministers are supposed to make big policy announcements in the Commons first.
Normally No 10 likes big ministerial statements to start earlier. But today, with many Labour MPs lining up to criticise the policy, the Downing Street spin doctors may not worry too much if the statement goes past deadline hour.
