Illegal migrants to be offered more money to leave UK in bombshell change | Politics | News

Asylum seekers and foreign criminals will be offered more money to leave the UK as part of a radical overhaul of the system.

Labor will try “increasing stimulus payments” to persuade people to return to their home countries.

Migrants are currently being offered up to £3,000 to leave the UK voluntarily.

And the Home Office is set to spark outrage among Labor supporters by targeting families whose asylum claims have been rejected for deportation.

Under the government’s plans, asylum seekers will only be given temporary protection in the UK and will be reviewed every 30 months to see if their home country is safe for them to return home.

Refugees will be told to wait 20 years before applying for settlement rights. Refugees will also have to sell expensive assets such as cars and jewelry to pay for their support.

But a new Home Office document published this afternoon has revealed the Home Office is considering paying migrants more to leave the UK.

The Restoring Order and Control policy document sets out: “Depending on individual circumstances, financial packages will continue to be available at any stage of the process.

“This is the most cost-effective approach for UK taxpayers and we will encourage people to take advantage of these opportunities, including by increasing their incentive payments. Forced removals will continue if they refuse to take part.”

In another radical move, the Home Office is also proposing to deport families whose asylum claims are rejected.

A policy document stated: “We are not currently prioritizing the return of families.

“As a result, many families who are unable to apply for asylum continue to live in this country and receive free accommodation and financial support for years.

“Our hesitancy to return families is particularly creating perverse incentives. For some, the personal benefit of putting a child on a dangerous small boat outweighs the significant risks of doing so.”

“On arrival in the UK, asylum seekers can avoid deportation by taking advantage of the fact that they have children and have put down roots, even if their claim has been legally rejected.

“For example, there are around 700 Albanian families whose asylum claims have been rejected, but their deportation is not currently being enforced by the Home Office, despite Albania having gold-standard cooperation with the UK on repatriation and being a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR).

“The government will offer financial support to all families to enable them to return to their home country. If they refuse this support, we will proceed with mandatory repatriation. We will consult on the process for removing families, including children.”

Countries that refuse to take back illegal immigrants from the UK will face a visa ban.

Under Labour’s plans, immigration judges will be prevented from enforcing immigrants’ rights to family life under the ECHR, instead protecting the public and controlling UK borders under the new law.

However, Ms Mahmood’s proposals sparked a backlash from members of her own party; Labor MPs described it as “practical cruelty”, “politically disastrous” and warned of a “real degree of disgust” among politicians.

Veteran left MP Ian Byrne said: “We have drifted away from the Prime Minister’s promise of ‘compassion and dignity’ towards policies that are tipped over the moral cliff and applauded by far-right figures such as Farage and Yaxley-Lennon.

“This is morally bankrupt and politically disastrous; our party will not win back voters this way.

“Those who have left behind have turned to progressive parties, while those who remain will be horrified by these latest attacks on people fleeing war and persecution.”

The Home Office will give asylum hotels the power to seize valuables such as jewelery and cars for payment.

Only items of no sentimental value will be confiscated, so wedding rings and family heirlooms will be exempt.

The package of measures, hailed as the biggest change to asylum laws since the Second World War, will end the decades-old principle of permanent asylum for those granted asylum and reform human rights laws.

Former Supreme Court judge Lord Sumption has warned ministers’ plans to change the way human rights legislation is applied in UK courts will be “limited” by the European Court of Human Rights.

Left-wing Labor MP Richard Burgon said: “This approach is not only morally wrong but politically disastrous.

“Worker voters who left the party will not be won back this way. They have flocked not to Reform, but mostly to other progressive parties, or are now simply saying they don’t know who to vote for.”

“Many who have hitherto remained loyal to the Labor Party will be repulsed by these attacks on defenseless people fleeing war and persecution.

“Poll after poll shows the cost of living crisis remains the biggest issue in British politics.

“This is what the Labor leadership needs to focus on relentlessly. This is the way to win back voters.”

Alloa & Grangemouth MP Brian Leishman said some of the proposals to be announced this afternoon were “quite reform in nature”.

“I know from speaking to other Labor MPs that they are genuinely disgusted by some of these proposals,” he told Times Radio.

He added: “What we need to do is to do an absolutely honest and frank analysis and accept that Britain has never been a more welcoming place for immigrants… This is nothing new and what I will say is that some of the proposals that have been leaked seem quite Reform in nature.”

Labor MP Tony Vaughan KC said the Government’s overhaul of the asylum system “does not benefit society”.

He said: “I completely agree with Shabana that public trust in our asylum system has diminished and we need to regain that trust.

“But the problem I have with this is that I think it’s going in the wrong direction. I mean, I have a problem with the idea that even though we’ve given protection to refugees in particular, we should try to push them out.”

“I think the idea is that after two and a half years we have to continually review their situation so that at some point their country will be safe and we can deport them. I think that’s a completely wrong position in principle.”

“If the system has decided that someone is going to be granted asylum by applying immigration controls, we need to welcome that and make sure that we integrate and not create the kind of permanent situation of uncertainty and alienation that doesn’t benefit refugees or society.”

Downing Street has denied the Government is “chasing far-right voters” with plans to overhaul the asylum system.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “This is a policy that we believe reflects the mandate given to us to protect our borders and deal with the asylum system we have inherited.”

Asked if he was after the far right, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We are responding to the mandate we have been given and the public can tell that the pace and scale of illegal immigration is out of control, unfair and puts huge pressure on communities.”

“And the Prime Minister wants to fix the chaos in the asylum system so we can move away from division and regression and build a Britain for everyone.”

Asked if the government “speaks the language of Reform” he added: “No, we are talking about the language of dealing with an asylum system in chaos.”