Keir Starmer is facing a fresh challenge to his authority as Labour MPs condemn new hardline migration measures that would escalate deportations of children and families. The proposals, outlined by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, include confiscating assets from asylum seekers and changing how the European Convention on Human Rights is interpreted to prevent asylum seekers using family life rights to avoid deportation.
At least 20 Labour MPs have publicly expressed concern, including Tony Vaughan, Sarah Owen, and several 2024 intake MPs. Critics accuse the government of adopting far-right tactics, with one MP saying they did not fight an election to bundle distressed children onto deportation flights. Another warned of a social media backlash, calling the plans 'morally bankrupt'.
Mahmood defended the policies in the Commons, rebuking MPs for suggesting she used divisive language. She cited personal experience of racial abuse, saying she is often told to 'go back home'. A government source stressed there would be no deportations of unaccompanied children and promised extensive engagement with worried MPs, calling the border crisis an 'existential issue'.
Starmer defended the plans, saying the government inherited a broken asylum system and must fix it. He argued for a consensus to stop people arriving who should not be here and to return those not genuine refugees. The Conservatives have indicated they could support the government to pass the laws in the event of a major Labour rebellion.
