UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced on Monday, November 17, that the UK would introduce tighter asylum rules as part of its strategy to deter illegal migration.
The move comes as part of Labour’s drift to the right to combat Reform UK’s performance in national polls.
They’ve been inspired by policies implemented by the centre-left Social Democrats in Denmark, although reporting by the Guardian suggests voters are also abandoning this party for right-wing alternatives.
What are the main changes?
Leave to remain, that is, the time that refugees can stay in the UK, will be shortened from five years to thirty months. This will only be renewed if they are “in need of protection”, and if this is not applicable, they will be liable for removal.
Refugees will also only be eligible for settlement after twenty years of residence in the UK, up from the current period of five years.
While asylum seekers are here, the Government seeks to reduce the access that they have to public funds by removing the automatic right to family reunion, incentivising refugees to move onto work and study routes, and prioritising access to benefits to those “making an economic contribution to the UK”.
The Government has also removed its “duty to support” asylum seekers, which it says was an EU law that the UK is no longer bound by. In practice, this will see asylum seekers who are able to work denied state support, such as housing and money. Law-breaking asylum seekers will also be rendered ineligible for support.
A change that caused uproar on social media was reports that jewellery could be confiscated from individuals to pay their processing costs.
This came from a Sky News interview with Home Office minister, Alex Norris, who said that the British public pays billions of pounds a year to support asylum seekers, and that it is right that those with cash and assets like e-bikes and cars should help bear the costs.
He initially denied a report from The Sun that jewellery, such as heirlooms, would be taken at the border, but stressed that people should listen to what the Home Secretary has to say.
The full list of changes can be found on the UK Government website.
Reactions to the changes
Some were quick to applaud the changes, with far-right activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, also known as Tommy Robinson, posting on social media, “The Overton window has been obliterated, well done patriots”.
Others were more concerned. The Refugee Council, a charity that represents refugees across the UK, called the plans “highly impractical” and “inhumane”, and estimated that they’d cost the Home Office £872mn over the next ten years in processing costs.
Local MP for Alloa and Grangemouth, Brian Leishman, who was recently reinstated to the Parliamentary Labour Party following his suspension over the summer, told Brig:
“I’ve got big reservations from what’s been released so far. We need to build a caring compassionate society that looks after people from the UK and from other countries.
“And that needs to be done with real Labour Party values. Values of equality, opportunity, and tolerance. The people that are coming to the UK on small boats or under lorries are fleeing from danger, oppression and persecution. It’s a question of human decency that we look after people that are in danger.
“That’s the true values of the Labour Party and not trying to copy Farage and Reform who only want to demonise people. The problems the UK have are not down to immigration, legal or otherwise.
“The societal problems that are really tearing our country apart are because of austerity that has hollowed out communities, of wage suppression and horrendous inequality on the back of political decisions and a cost-of-living crisis. These are the issues the government should be tackling.”
Featured Image Credit: UK Home Office via Wikimedia Commons.
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