British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.Image: keystone
Britain’s social democratic government wants to drastically tighten the country’s asylum laws.
November 16, 2025, 06:21November 16, 2025, 3:03 p.m
In a newspaper interview, Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood announced a speech in the lower house of parliament on Monday in which she would present reform plans for the “most comprehensive change to the asylum system in decades.” In doing so, she is taking a stand against MPs from the left wing of Labor who fear a shift to the right in their party, which is under great pressure in terms of domestic policy.
Mahmood wants to abolish the state obligation to support asylum seekers that was introduced under EU law in 2005 – 15 years before Brexit. According to the planned reform, anyone who can in principle work in Great Britain and support themselves but does not do so would forfeit their legally guaranteed right to accommodation and financial aid. The same should apply to asylum seekers who break the law.
Tougher rules for newcomers
The stricter rules should not apply to people who already live in Great Britain, but only to newcomers. From now on, anyone who comes into the country illegally should only be granted permanent residency rights after 20 years at the earliest – and only if certain criteria are met and, for example, there are no previous convictions. Previously, this option only existed after five years.
The aim is to make Great Britain, following the example of Denmark, less attractive for migrants crossing the English Channel illegally by boat or truck and to make deportations easier, Mahmood told the Sunday Times.
“We want to send a message to these people: Don’t come into the country as illegal migrants, don’t get on a boat.”
Right-wing populists are driving the government
In Great Britain, the Reform UK party of right-wing populist Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage, which scores points with anti-immigration slogans, is currently leading all polls. Labor Prime Minister Keir Starmer responded by adopting some of the right-wing rhetoric and announcing that he would “end the experiment of open borders” and close the “undignified chapter” of illegal immigration. So far, however, this has not brought his party forward in the polls. The next parliamentary election is due in 2029. (sda/dpa)