Racist abuse that means I KNOW broken asylum system must be fixed: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood rejects claims from liberal critics her reforms are stoking division – saying she is the one who gets called a ‘f***ing P***’ and told to ‘go back home’

Shabana Mahmood responded to critics of asylum reforms by revealing she had been racially abused on the street on Monday.

The Home Secretary has been accused of ‘inciting division’ when announcing his controversial plan, which has come under criticism from many in his own party.

But he shocked the House of Commons by telling how he was ‘regularly called an af***** P*** and told to go back home’, saying it showed how the refugee crisis was dividing Britain.

Britain’s first Muslim Home Secretary, Ms Mahmood, has moved to abolish immigration courts accused of being in thrall to ‘activist judges’ and replace them with a new system of ‘independent arbitrators’ overseen by the Home Office.

He sought to restrict the ability of those unable to claim asylum to challenge their human rights, in proposals that angered the Labor Left and others.

After being attacked by the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson, Ms Mahmood replied: ‘I wish I had the privilege of walking around this country and not seeing the division created by immigration and asylum.

‘Unlike him, unfortunately I am the one who is regularly called an a****** P*** and told to go home.

‘I know through my own experience and the experiences of my constituents how divisive asylum seekers have become in our country.’

Ms Mahmood said: ‘I wish I had the privilege of traveling around this country and not seeing the division created by immigration and asylum’ (file image)

He apologized after being scolded by his deputy speaker, but added: ‘I was merely reflecting the truth of the words that were familiar to me.’

When details of his plan were laid out in a 33-page Home Office document titled Restoring Order and Control, divisions within the Labor Party deepened.

MPs line up to attack ‘dystopian’ reforms; Many stated that they would rebel to block the changes.

Former frontrunner Richard Burgon accused ministers of ‘digging at the bottom of the barrel’, branding the plans a ‘desperate attempt to triangulate with the Reformation’ and predicted ministers would make a U-turn on the plans within months.

Left winger Nadia Whittome said it was ‘shameful’ that Labor was adopting ‘such patently cruel policies’.

However, the rebellion appeared ready to spread beyond the party’s left wing; A wide range of Labor MPs were speaking out just a week after Budget Day, revealing the division in Sir Keir Starmer’s government.

A large-scale Labor backbencher over the plans could lead to Sir Keir being humiliated if he is forced to rely on Tory support as Kemi Badenoch promised yesterday.

Other measures in Ms Mahmood’s plan include making refugee status temporary, with review every two and a half years, and the possibility of it not being renewed.

Divisions within the Labor Party deepened when details of Ms Mahmood’s plan were laid out in a 33-page Home Office document titled Restoring Order and Control.

Party home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson criticized the Home Secretary’s claim that illegal immigration is ‘tearing the country apart’

Labor will also abolish its legal obligation to provide taxpayer-funded support to asylum seekers.

The draft also states that the Home Office will begin deporting families of families who are unable to apply for asylum, and identifies a ‘particularly perverse’ situation in which some are ‘exploiting the fact that they have children’ to prevent their deportation from the UK.

Some unsuccessful asylum seekers may also benefit from a ‘golden farewell’ of ‘enhanced incentive payments’ above the current £3,000 benefit if they agree to return home voluntarily. Interior Ministry officials refused to say Monday how much the taxpayer might pay.

Many of Labour’s proposals are likely to face legal challenges if ministers succeed in passing the legislation.

The UK will remain part of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), thanks to former human rights lawyer Sir Keir’s strong support for the agreement.

And so the Government may still have to fight legal action in the appeals courts and in Strasbourg, leaving some reforms languishing in a bureaucratic process for years.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch described the Government’s plans as ‘baby steps’ and warned that any plan that did not include leaving the ECHR was ‘doomed to fail’.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the Conservative Party would ‘be ready to help pass the legislation’ in the ‘inevitable’ event of a Labor rebellion.

Ms Mahmood told the House of Commons she had a duty to act because rising concerns about immigration were ‘making our country a more divided place’.

He said the asylum system was ‘out of control and unfair’, adding: ‘If we don’t tackle this crisis, we will lead more people down a path that starts with anger and ends in hate.’

Labor has been accused of trying to emulate Tory and Reform immigration policies in a bid to avoid being wiped out at the polls.

A source close to Ms Mahmood warned: ‘The crisis at our borders is an existential problem for mainstream parties.

‘If we cannot solve the crisis at our border, dark forces will come after us.’

The source said of the possibility of backbench rioting: ‘There has been a huge amount of interaction with the Parliamentary Labor Party in recent weeks.

‘This work will continue as we work with those in the background to restore order and control and open safe and legal routes for genuine refugees.

‘Politics is about arguing about what you think is right. This is what the Minister of Internal Affairs is doing.

‘The extent of illegal immigration is dividing our country.

‘That’s why we must restore order and control.

‘If we don’t do this, we will lose the public’s consent to grant asylum.’

Steve Valdez-Symonds of Amnesty International said: ‘The Home Secretary’s immigration and asylum plans are cruel, divisive and fundamentally unethical.

‘The moment a Government decides that the fundamental rights of certain individuals can be excluded, it crosses a dangerous line that should never be crossed.’

The Free Action blog, which advises immigration lawyers, criticized the ‘horror’ of Ms Mahmood’s proposals and said in a newsletter to subscribers: ‘I’m sure everyone has resources ready to show how harmful and useless the proposals are.’