Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will seek to shore up support for her controversial immigration bill on the progressive left of Labour, as she sets out plans to speed up the opening of new safe and legal routes that will permit thousands of refugees to come to the UK.
The home secretary, who is the leading contender to stay in her job if Andy Burnham becomes prime minister, will next week introduce the legislation, which will also set new limits on immigration claims on human rights grounds and under modern slavery law.
Burnham has been under pressure to clarify his stance on Mahmood’s immigration policies, amid unhappiness among some Labour MPs and charities who believe the restrictions on asylum claims are too draconian. Alf Dubs, the Labour peer, called on Friday for Burnham to move Mahmood out of the Home Office and for her asylum policies of “performative cruelty” to be ripped up.
With Burnham set to take over in No 10 next month, Mahmood has been attempting to soften some of her hardline plans including reassessing separate proposals to make migrants wait 10 years instead of five for indefinite leave to remain. She has also been involved in talks to exempt care workers from the changes.
The bill is due to be introduced within days and will include two safe and legal routes for refugees to open from the autumn – a sponsorship scheme allowing community groups to identify refugees to support, and a university student scheme – with applications taking place within months and refugees arriving next year. A third scheme will allow employers to sponsor refugees from next year.
A Labour source said: “The home secretary’s belief is we must play our humanitarian role to provide safe harbour to those fleeing peril. That is why we will open new, safe and legal routes for genuine refugees. These will be modest at first, they will grow in time, with the aim of thousands of refugees a year eventually coming to build a new life here in Britain once order and control has been restored.”
