Highlights
- MPs urge the Labour leader to revise key immigration measures before entering government
- They argue the proposals are unfair to migrants who followed legal routes and could cost Labour progressive support
- The letter calls for a more compassionate approach to asylum and migration while retaining firm border controls
LABOUR MPs have urged Andy Burnham to reconsider key elements of the party’s proposed immigration reforms, arguing that the plans risk alienating progressive voters and unfairly penalising migrants who have complied with UK rules.
According to The Telegraph, almost 80 Labour backbenchers have written to Burnham, widely seen as the party’s prime minister-in-waiting, asking him to revise measures contained in home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s proposed Immigration and Asylum Bill.
The MPs said Labour’s approach had become too heavily focused on enforcement rather than compassion. In the letter, they argued: “Currently, we are seen to talk much more about control than compassion.”
They also objected to plans that would double the qualifying period before most migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain, saying the proposal unfairly targets people who entered the country legally and complied with immigration rules.
Referring to the settlement changes, the MPs wrote that “targeting a group of migrants that followed the rules, and applying this retrospectively, does not pass the fairness test for a compassionate but firm system.” They added that they had not encountered significant public demand for making it more difficult for migrant workers to settle permanently in Britain.
The letter further argued that Labour was “expending political capital, huge Home Office resource, and losing progressive voters” over reforms that many people neither understood nor wanted.
The legislation would also require asylum seekers to repay up to £10,000 in taxpayer-funded accommodation, hotel and benefit costs once they are permitted to work before becoming eligible for permanent settlement.
'Tightening the use of human rights legislation'
Other measures in the Bill include tightening the use of human rights legislation to challenge deportation decisions, restricting modern slavery claims, and introducing a fast-track appeals process aimed at accelerating the removal of people living in the UK illegally.
The MPs also called for changes to the government’s language on asylum, writing that Labour should “start by stripping out the hostile rhetoric which triggers existing anxieties.”
The reported intervention follows earlier opposition to Mahmood’s immigration plans from Labour MPs. In February, more than 50 backbenchers were said to have warned they could oppose the proposals unless significant changes were made.
Burnham previously endorsed the reforms while campaigning to become the MP for Makerfield, a constituency that backed Brexit. During the campaign, he also reversed his earlier support for granting newly arrived migrants immediate access to welfare benefits.
Mahmood’s wider immigration package would also make it easier to deport foreign offenders regardless of the length of their prison sentence, replacing the current system under which deportation is generally considered for those jailed for at least a year, the report added.
According to reports, the home secretary is also pursuing plans to introduce new safe and legal routes for refugees escaping conflict. The scheme is expected to draw on Canada’s community sponsorship model and Britain’s Homes for Ukraine programme, with privately sponsored refugees receiving financial and emotional support for at least a year.
An annual cap on arrivals is planned, although the limit has yet to be announced. Countries expected to benefit include Sudan and Eritrea, the newspaper reported.
