The Prime Minister is under more pressure as MPs within the Labour Party are urging Sir Keir Starmer to “think again.”
The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is unveiling a series of policy proposals which is inspired by Denmark’s approach on migrants.
Labour MP Tony Vaughan warned that the government’s planned proposals risks “divisiveness” across the UK.
He wrote on X, “The idea that recognised refugees need to be deported is wrong.
“We absolutely need immigration controls.
“And where those controls decide to grant asylum, we should welcome and integrate, not create perpetual limbo and alienation.
The rhetoric around these reforms encourages the same culture of divisiveness that sees racism and abuse growing in our communities.
The Government is wrong to think that reviews of safety in the person’s country every few years will mean refugees can be returned at scale. That hasn’t happened in Denmark.”
Labour MP John McDonnell commented: “Tony Vaughan is one of the new MPs elected for Labour last year and in his contributions to Commons debates has displayed a considered approach to issues.
“He’s certainly not what the media would call a ‘usual suspect.’ I suspect he is reflecting here what many in the PLP (Parliamentary Labour Party) feel.”
Labour MP Rachael Maskell accused the government of “chasing Reform”
She told Times Radio: “The dehumanisation of people in desperation is the antithesis of what the Labour Party is about.
“Instead of the Labour leadership chasing Reform, the very people who took us out of the Dublin Agreement, they should commence a proper process for developing an evidence-based policy, upholding our historic reputation for advancing the human rights,” she added.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome launched an attack on the government calling their reforms “dystopian” and “shameful.”
She told the House of Commons, “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.
“How can we be adopting such obviously cruel policies? Is the home secretary proud that the government has sunk to such depths that it’s now being praised by [far-right activist] Tommy Robinson?”
The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said they support the asylum reforms, but said they are “nowhere near enough.”
Badenoch has called on the UK to leave the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and “ban all asylum claims completely.”
Badenoch said, “We’re going to work with them to try and get this through, because what I know is that a lot of Labour backbenchers hate this stuff.
“We are going to do everything we can to support her.
Unless we leave the ECHR, I suspect Shabana Mahmood is going to run into the same legal problems that the Conservative government ran into.
She added, “If you arrive in our country illegally, you need to be sent home.
If people know that they can get citizenship after arriving here illegally, they’re going to encourage more and more people to come here.
