Starmer faces fresh questions around leadership amidst controversial migrant changes: report
Prime Minister Keir Starmer is again facing dissent from within his own party following the announcement of harsher rules for refugees and other immigrants.
The Guardian reports that the policies have caused significant divisions inside the party, with some MPs accusing their colleagues of not taking seriously public anger about illegal migration and asylum.
MPs said there were in particular widespread concerns about “morally bankrupt” moves to ramp up the deportation of families, which in practice would mean increased detention of children before removal.
“I didn’t fight an election as a Labour MP to bundle distressed children onto deportation flights,” one MP said. Another MP in a Green-facing seat said they were facing an enormous backlash on social media. “It’s all terrible. Straight out of the far-right playbook. Lots of colleagues feel the same,” said a third.
Several Labour aides also expressed their own discomfort and expressed scepticism that the government would be able to pass the proposals without a climbdown on some measures, including the seizures of assets and the rights of refugee families to reach permanent settlement sooner than the proposed 20 years.
What are the new measures?
On Monday (17 November), Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced new immigration rules that will impose much tougher restrictions on asylum seekers and rescind many of their benefits.
In the Restoring Order and Control policy paper, Mahmood proposed a raft of new measures from the Labour government to tackle the issue of asylum seekers arriving in the United Kingdom.
Under the new rules, refugees will receive 30 months of leave to remain instead of the current five years, and this will only be renewed if they are still considered in need of protection.
If their refugee status is not renewed, they will be returned to their home countries.
Currently, refugees in the UK have permanent refugee status and can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years of being in the UK, providing the opportunity to gain British citizenship.
The new rules proposed by Mahmood will see refugees who arrive in the UK forced to wait 20 years to apply for indefinite leave to remain, and their refugee status will be under review throughout this period. This change is expected to apply only to new arrivals in the UK.
