Labour peer accuses Shabana Mahmood of ‘using children as a weapon’ in asylum reforms
A Labor colleague who fled the Nazis as a child refugee has accused Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood of using “children as weapons” in plans to make Britain less attractive to asylum seekers.
Lord Alf Dubs described the government’s proposals as “shabby”, less than 24 hours after Labor MPs described the proposals as “practical cruelty” and “immoral”.
Under sweeping measures announced on Monday, the home secretary said Britain could deport families, including those with children, if they refuse monetary incentives. The Home Office also alleged that children were being sent to the UK on small boats so their families could “exploit” the laws by putting down roots, thus preventing them from being removed from the country.
Asked about the suggestion, Lord Dubs told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think it’s a theoretical statement; I just don’t accept it.”
He continued: “I think there is a suitable situation for children, there is a suitable situation for family reunification; if there are children living on their own and having families in this country, then I think the right thing to do is to ensure family reunification and bring the children here.
“But I think it’s terrible to use children as a weapon, as the home secretary has done; I’m at a loss for words, to be honest, because my concern was: What happens if we remove people who come here and they have children in the meantime?
“What are we supposed to do with kids who are born here, who go to school here, who are part of our community, our society? We can’t just say, ‘Oh, get out because your family doesn’t claim to be here.'”
Lord Dubs was one of the Jewish children rescued from the Nazis in the 1930s who came to Britain for a new life, and he advocated for the protection of unaccompanied minors caught up in the immigration crisis.
He also touched on the government’s “tough approach” after Ms Mahmood said it was a “disturbing reality” that Britain’s generous asylum offer compared to other European countries was drawing people to British shores.
“What we need is some compassion in our politics and I think some of the measures are going in the wrong direction, they won’t help,” he said.
Ms Mahmood announced a major overhaul of the system, including reducing the length of time asylum seekers are allowed to stay in the UK from an initial five years to 30 months and extending the time required for settled status from five years to 20.
Other changes include limits on the number of people coming to the UK via so-called safe routes. According to the plans, those in the system will not be guaranteed housing and a weekly allowance, while wealthy people will have to contribute to the expenses of the refugees.
The home secretary told the House of Commons that the “pace and scale of change was destabilizing communities” and making the UK “a more divided place”, but the reforms drew condemnation from charities and some backbench MPs.
Former Labor leader Richard Burgon also said the reforms were “a desperate attempt to triangulate with Reformation”, while Ian Lavery MP, who supports Conservative and Reform policies, said “isn’t it time to question whether we are actually in the right place?” he said.
The plans were also criticized by Emily Spurrell, chief executive of the Association of Police and Crime Commissioners, who said the changes “should not come at the expense of compassion”.
But communities secretary Steve Reed insisted reforms were needed to end the human tragedies caused by human trafficking, as he defended the move to deport families who refuse to return to their home countries.
“We know we need safer and legal ways for families who are eligible to come here and seek asylum to enter the country, but we cannot continue to allow incentives to exist that result in children drowning in the Canal,” he said.
On accusations from some in his party that the government was echoing the rhetoric of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, Mr Reed said “you will always have a diversity of views”, but “the vast majority of Labor members and Labor MPs know we have to deal with this issue because of the damage it does to our country and to social cohesion”.
Meanwhile, reform leader Mr Farage praised the measures as “hugely encouraging” and questioned whether they would be implemented.
He told a press conference in London: “Rhetorically it’s good, after a lot of the things we’ve been saying for a number of years. But in practice I doubt much of this will actually happen.”
Responding to Ms Mahmood’s invitation to “go crazy” over possible jokes against Reform, Mr Farage said: “He seems quite fond of using bad language, doesn’t he?
He dodged a question about whether he supported Labour’s proposal to deport the children of non-asylum seekers, saying only: “The absolute priority for deporting those who arrive (illegally) are undocumented young men of fighting age, many of whom will do great harm to this country.”
Dr Mihnea Cuibus, of the Migration Observatory, said Ms Mahmood’s proposals, modeled on Denmark, would go some way to making Britain less attractive to immigrants.
He added: “This is absolutely the most significant change we have ever seen in the asylum system.
“There is no doubt that the changes will reduce interest in the UK. We know from research that permanent settled status and the ability to bring their families are important for immigrants.
“It’s impossible to know what impact this will have. We know that in Denmark after they introduced these changes they had the lowest figures in a decade. But in the UK there are still other pull factors such as language.”
