Shabana Mahmood to outline ‘firm but fair’ asylum system that could see some claimants enter job market – UK politics live | Politics
Mahmood to outline ‘robust but fair’ asylum system in speech this morning
Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood will give a speech later this morning and push for a “robust but fair asylum system”.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that, within the scope of the package of measures to be announced, up to 21,000 refugees who have been waiting for a year for their requests to be processed may be allowed to enter the labor market to earn their living.
As the government tries to clear out asylum hotels, beneficiaries who break the law, work illegally or are found to have enough assets to live without support will be expelled and lose their support payments starting in June.
The developments have been questioned by the Refugee Council over the risk of increased insomnia among those fleeing war and famine.
The Home Office said there were around 30,600 people waiting to claim asylum in around 200 hotels across England, and 107,000 people were receiving asylum support.
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, March 3, 2026. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters
important events
In a column in the Guardian yesterday, Mahmood responded to demands from senior figures in the labor movement that ministers stop focusing on immigration and tone down their attacks on the Green party.
The Minister of Internal Affairs wrote:
Restoring order at our borders is not only the embodiment of Labor values, It is a necessary condition for a Labor government to do anything.
Mahmood wrote that Labour’s vision must appeal to the mainstream and be “neither Farage’s nightmare of de facto closed borders nor the Greens’ tale of de facto open borders”.
He also said the government planned to launch a new “safe and legal” route in the autumn for students seeking asylum.
Read his full article here:
Kiran Stacey
The home secretary’s speech this morning came after Tony Vaughan, Labor MP for Folkestone and Hythe, coordinated a private letter to him signed by 100 Labor MPs expressing concern about proposals for “acquired settlement” and temporary refugee status.
The letter, sent on March 4, calls for progressive changes rooted in Labor Party values.
He argues that some of the proposals undermine the government’s integration and cohesion goals, such as temporary refugee status, leaving open the possibility of forcible deportation of resident refugees even after 20 years of legal residence there.
It is also argued that the proposals risk worsening child poverty, unfairly changing the “targets” of settlements and could undermine the UK’s economic competitiveness by increasing skills shortages.
Mahmood to outline ‘robust but fair’ asylum system in speech this morning
Home Affairs Minister Shabana Mahmood will give a speech later this morning and push for a “robust but fair asylum system”.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that, within the scope of the package of measures to be announced, up to 21,000 refugees who have been waiting for a year for their requests to be processed may be allowed to enter the labor market to earn their living.
As the government tries to clear out asylum hotels, beneficiaries who break the law, work illegally or are found to have enough assets to live without support will be expelled and lose their support payments starting in June.
The developments have been questioned by the Refugee Council over the risk of increased insomnia among those fleeing war and famine.
The Home Office said there were around 30,600 people waiting to claim asylum in around 200 hotels across England, and 107,000 people were receiving asylum support.
British Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood walks outside Downing Street in London, Britain, March 3, 2026. Photo: Toby Melville/Reuters
According to Reuters, Defense Minister John Healey came to Cyprus and met with his country’s counterpart.
Healey traveled to the island amid criticism from Cypriot officials over how Britain had moved to defend it against drone strikes linked to the war in the Middle East.
British officials believe a drone that hit an RAF base in Cyprus evaded detection by flying low and slow when launched by pro-Iran militias in Lebanon or western Iraq.
However, no definitive conclusion was reached in the investigation regarding where the Shahid type unmanned aerial vehicle was launched from. The attack occurred during Iran’s retaliatory bombardment over the weekend after the United States and Israel launched a wave of attacks against Iran, killing the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Badenoch says Britain should join US attacks on Iran
Kemi Badenoch said that Britain should take offensive action against Iran after the attack on British bases.
“We must do everything we can to prevent these attacks from happening,” the Conservative Party leader told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“I think we need to look at what our allies in the region are saying. Even if we don’t talk about Iran, Cyprus thinks we are not helping. It is extraordinary that Bahrain and Kuwait in the UAE openly criticize us…
“They think we abandoned them.”
He continued:
If your principle is that instead of properly combating imminent threats, we will simply wait until we are attacked, then we will be in big trouble.
Asked about concerns about Britain’s enthusiasm for involvement in the bombing of Iran, Badenoch said:
Being realistic is not a very nice thing. I don’t want a wider war.
But sometimes the best way to deescalate a situation is to try to end it as soon as possible, rather than letting it drag on because you don’t want to be involved.
Cabinet ministers ‘blocked’ Starmer from allowing US to use British bases for Iran strikes – report
Hello and welcome to the UK politics liveblog.
Cabinet ministers led by energy minister Ed Miliband have reportedly blocked Keir Starmer from allowing Donald Trump to use British air bases for his attacks on Iran.
Prime Minister Rachel Reeves, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper and home secretary Shabana Mahmood have rallied behind Miliband to oppose the prime minister’s decision to allow the US to use bases in Gloucestershire and the Chagos Islands for bombing operations in the Middle East. audience.
Starmer, backed by Defense Secretary Jon Healey, wanted to allow Trump to launch “defensive strikes” against Iran but bowed to pressure from opponents in his cabinet.
Political journalist Tim Shipman wrote to x This morning the US first made the request on February 11 but Attorney General Richard Hermer said “it would violate international law and Britain would not be able to facilitate let alone join”.
He said the Defense Department had worked with its US counterparts and made recommendations on how to draft the request, and on Sunday afternoon the national security council had given the green light for the US to launch “defensive strikes”, less than 24 hours after its first “pre-emptive strike” on Iran.
The statement comes after it was revealed that the US had not shared precise operational details or timings with the UK ahead of the joint Israeli-Israeli attack on Iran, sources told the Guardian.
The US decision to leave the UK out of the official loop on airstrikes, alongside Keir Starmer’s decision to deny US permission to use British military bases for the operation.
In other developments:
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John Healey flew to Cyprus to defuse diplomatic tensions over a drone that went undetected and hit an RAF base, sparking anger from local ministers. British officials believe a drone that hit an RAF base in Cyprus evaded detection by flying low and slow when launched by pro-Iran militias in Lebanon or western Iraq.
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The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that under the package of measures to be announced on Thursday, up to 21,000 refugees who have been waiting for a year for their requests to be processed may be allowed to enter the labor market to earn their living. As the government tries to clear out asylum hotels, beneficiaries who break the law, work illegally or are found to have enough assets to live without support will be expelled and lose their support payments starting in June.
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One of three men arrested on suspicion of spying for China is David Taylor, the husband of a Labor MP. East Kilbride and Strathaven MP Joani Reid told Sky News: “I have seen nothing that would make me suspect my husband of breaking any laws. I am not part of my husband’s business activities and neither I nor my children are part of this investigation and we should not be treated as if we were by media outlets.”
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Andy Burnham has reignited hostilities with Keir Starmer’s Labor leadership by criticizing what he described as the “bankruptcy” of the party’s campaign approach, a week after the party lost the previously safe seat of Gorton and Denton. The Greater Manchester mayor and former MP, seen as a rival to Starmer, said Labor’s campaigning style prevented it from connecting with non-Labour voters and other progressive parties, recalling clipboard-holding canvassers going door to door with records of previous Labor supporters.
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The BBC will call for an end to political appointments on its board as part of sweeping changes designed to protect its independence. The company will also seek to put the royal charter on a permanent basis to end the existential threat of having to negotiate with ministers about its future every 10 years.
