HOME SECRETARY Shabana Mahmood on Sunday defended government plans to cut protections for refugees and end automatic benefits for asylum seekers, saying irregular migration was "tearing our country apart".
The proposals, based on Denmark's asylum system, aim to stop small boat crossings from northern France to England. These crossings have been linked to support for the Reform UK party.
The measures are seen as an attempt to counter the rise of the hard right. They are expected to face resistance from left-wing MPs in prime minister Keir Starmer's Labour government. The Refugee Council has called them "harsh and unnecessary".
The opposition Conservatives also criticised the plans. Their home affairs spokesman Chris Philp said the government was "tinkering with the edges".
Mahmood rejected claims that Labour was "engaging in far-right talking points". She told BBC television: "This is a moral mission for me, because I can see illegal migration is tearing our country apart, it is dividing communities."
‘Block endless appeals’
Refugee status currently lasts five years before a person can apply for indefinite leave to remain and later for citizenship.
The Home Office said it would cut refugee status to 30 months.
It said the protection would be "regularly reviewed" and that refugees would have to return home once their countries were considered safe.
The ministry also said people granted asylum would need to wait 20 years before applying to live in the United Kingdom indefinitely.
It said the changes would discourage irregular migration and make it easier to remove people already in Britain.
The reforms include new legislation to limit the use of the European Convention on Human Rights by irregular migrants and foreign criminals to stop deportation, according to the Home Office.
Starmer said the plans would "block endless appeals, stop last-minute claims and scale up removals of those with no right to be here".
Asylum applications in Britain reached about 111,000 in the year to June 2025, official figures show.
Benefits crackdown
The Home Office said a legal duty to support asylum seekers, created under a 2005 law, would be revoked.
Housing and weekly financial allowances would no longer be guaranteed.
Support would become "discretionary", allowing the government to deny assistance to those who could work or support themselves but did not, or to those who committed crimes.
More than 39,000 people have arrived on small boats this year. The figure is higher than the total for 2024 but below the record in 2022 under the Conservatives.
French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot welcomed the proposals. He said asylum seekers risked the Channel crossing because conditions in Britain "are more permissive".
"We told the UK it was necessary to align certain conditions they give arriving immigrants with European standards," he said.
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon urged the government to reconsider, saying the plans "will not deter" crossings.
"They should ensure that refugees who work hard and contribute to Britain can build secure, settled lives and give back to their communities," he said.
The Danish model
Labour is drawing on Denmark's approach. Denmark’s coalition government, led by the centre-left Social Democrats, has introduced strict migration policies.
Senior British officials recently visited Denmark, where successful asylum claims are at a 40-year low.
Refugees in Denmark receive a one-year renewable residency permit and are encouraged to return home once their countries are deemed safe.
Family reunions in Denmark face strict conditions, including minimum age requirements for parents, language tests and financial guarantees.
Labour has trailed Nigel Farage’s Reform party in polls for most of this year. The tougher stance on immigration also risks losing voters to parties such as the Greens.
(With inputs from agencies)
