Labour accused of ‘performative cruelty’ over asylum plans – UK politics live | Politics
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- November 17, 2025
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Plaid Cymru and SNP condemn ‘performative cruelty’ of Labour’s asylum plans
The SNP and Plaid Cymru have both accused the government of facilitating Nigel Farage’s agenda with its asylum plans.
In a statement, Pete Wishart, the SNP deputy leader at Westminster, said:
It is outrageous that Labour is considering kicking people out who have been in the country for up to 20 years.
That would mean families torn apart, communities destabilised, and people denied the chance to contribute – and Labour can’t even offer reassurance to Ukrainians who have become part of every community across the country …
It’s no wonder people feel let down by Labour – prices are soaring, wages are stagnating and households are at breaking point, but Labour’s primary focus is on fighting each other and pandering to Nigel Farage.
And Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid leader at Westminster, said:
With this announcement, Labour is bowing to the populist right, enabling Nigel Farage’s agenda by trading principles for lazy soundbites. Their proposals will punish people who have already endured unimaginable hardship. To confiscate personal belongings and leave families in bureaucratic limbo for up to 20 years is neither necessary nor just …
Clear rules and controls are necessary. But rules without humanity corrode trust and fuel division. The measure of a civilised country is not how many people it turns away, but how it treats the most vulnerable.
Plaid Cymru will reject performative cruelty. We stand for decency, fairness, and compassion. That is vital if we are to keep communities safe, maintain trust in systems, and uphold our values.
Key events
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Asylum policy not just ‘morally wrong’, but ‘politically disastrous’ too, says Labour MP Richard Burgon
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Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice complains about Send children wearing ear defenders in schools
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Plaid Cymru and SNP condemn ‘performative cruelty’ of Labour’s asylum plans
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BBC chair Samir Shah tells staff Trump has ‘no basis’ for libel case and corporation ‘determined’ to fight it
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Mahmood’s asylum statement delayed until after 5pm, after speaker grants 3 UQs
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Reform UK deputy leader won’t criticise student wing president who says UK-born BAME people not necessarily British
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No 10 defends asylum plans, saying voters want system brought under control
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Trump and Starmer have yet to speak about BBC and $1bn damages claim, despite president proposing call over weekend
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Labour MP Sarah Owen describes jewellery removal threat in asylum plan as ‘repugnant’
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Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed says asylum plans likely to create further ‘chaos, cost and division’
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Asylum seekers won’t lose ‘family heirlooms’ under plan to make them contribute if they have assets, minister says
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Labour MP Simon Opher criticises asylum plans, saying party should challenge Reform UK’s ‘racist agenda’, not ‘echo it’
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‘Truly frightening’ and ‘awful’ – Diane Abbott condemns government’s asylum plans
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Reform UK and Tories claim Labour’s proposed asylum changes won’t be implemented
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Minister rejects claim new, hardline policies risk stigmatising asylum seekers as cheats
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Minister suggests most asylum seekers would be able to avoid 20-year wait for permanent settlement under new rules
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Changing how courts interpret ECHR unlikely to have big impact on asylum returns, Labour MP says
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Why Labour is going Danish on immigration – podcast
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Starmer braced for backlash from Labour MPs as Mahmood sets out asylum plans
Asylum policy not just ‘morally wrong’, but ‘politically disastrous’ too, says Labour MP Richard Burgon
The leftwing Labour MP Richard Burgon has become the latest government backbencher to issue a statement condemning the asylum plans. In a statement on social media, he expresses alarm about the fact that the approach has been welcomed by Tommy Robinson. (See 1.06pm.) And he says “this approach isn’t just morally wrong; it’s politically disastrous.” He explains:
Labour voters who have abandoned the party will not be won back by this. They haven’t flocked to Reform but mainly to other progressive parties or now simply say they don’t know who to vote for. Many who have stuck with Labour so far will be repulsed by these attacks on vulnerable people fleeing war and persecution.
Poll after poll shows the cost-of-living crisis remains the single biggest issue in British politics. That is what the Labour leadership should be relentlessly focused on. That is how to win back voters.
Instead, this failing Labour leadership is choosing to fight on terrain set by Farage. In doing so, it is paving the way for the first far-right government in our history.
The latest episode of the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast is out. In it, Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey are discussing the asylum plans.
The Green MP Carla Denyer is also using the phrase “performative cruelty” to describe the government saying it might take jewellery from asylum seekers to help cover the costs of processing their applications. She says:
This is a new low from a govt plumbing the depths of performative cruelty in hopes that the public won’t notice they have no answers to the real issues facing this country
A sensible, humane govt would focus on safe routes to prevent people making dangerous small boat crossings
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice complains about Send children wearing ear defenders in schools
Peter Walker
Peter Walker is the Guardian’s senior political correspondent.
Some middle class parents are gaming the system to get underserved special education needs (Send) support for their children in state schools specifically to avoid paying private school fees made higher due to the imposition of VAT, Richard Tice has argued.
Speaking at a press conference in London, the Reform UK deputy leader said also there was “a crisis of over diagnosis of children with neurodiverse issues” and said that ear defenders, which can help students with autism or other sensory sensitivities focus on class, should be banned.
Talking about what he said was the unnecessarily rapid increase in Send diagnoses, and children given education, health and care plans (EHCPs), which give them extra assistance in school, Tice said:
One of the key issues here is these EHCPs, middle class parents playing the game in order to save the VAT on independent school fees. If you get the EHCP you don’t pay the VAT, so they’re employing solicitors in order to file their claims.
Tice called for an end to EHCP reports every year, and to end the use of specialists to assess children’s needs.
From the experts and the teachers that I’ve spoken to and the officers, the best thing to do, actually, is to push it, almost all of it, back to the schools. The schools know best, the teachers know best. And stop labelling people. Just say you need a bit of extra support.
Such was the over-diagnosis of conditions, Tice argued that “children who don’t have any form of label now sometimes feel left out”.
He singled out the use of ear defenders in classrooms as a problem, without expaining why.
The sight of children in classes wearing ear defenders – I’m sorry, this is just insane. It’s got to stop. The teachers want it to stop. Heads wanting to stop. It’s not the right way forwards.
Autistic children in particular are often highly sensitive to noise, and some of them wear ear defenders in a classroom setting to minimise the distress they can experience from hearing yelling.
Plaid Cymru and SNP condemn ‘performative cruelty’ of Labour’s asylum plans
The SNP and Plaid Cymru have both accused the government of facilitating Nigel Farage’s agenda with its asylum plans.
In a statement, Pete Wishart, the SNP deputy leader at Westminster, said:
It is outrageous that Labour is considering kicking people out who have been in the country for up to 20 years.
That would mean families torn apart, communities destabilised, and people denied the chance to contribute – and Labour can’t even offer reassurance to Ukrainians who have become part of every community across the country …
It’s no wonder people feel let down by Labour – prices are soaring, wages are stagnating and households are at breaking point, but Labour’s primary focus is on fighting each other and pandering to Nigel Farage.
And Liz Saville Roberts, the Plaid leader at Westminster, said:
With this announcement, Labour is bowing to the populist right, enabling Nigel Farage’s agenda by trading principles for lazy soundbites. Their proposals will punish people who have already endured unimaginable hardship. To confiscate personal belongings and leave families in bureaucratic limbo for up to 20 years is neither necessary nor just …
Clear rules and controls are necessary. But rules without humanity corrode trust and fuel division. The measure of a civilised country is not how many people it turns away, but how it treats the most vulnerable.
Plaid Cymru will reject performative cruelty. We stand for decency, fairness, and compassion. That is vital if we are to keep communities safe, maintain trust in systems, and uphold our values.
The Labour MP Rebecca Long-Bailey told the BBC’s Politics Live she was worried about some of the language being used by the government to defend its asylum proposals. She told the programme:
I’ll be honest; I think some of the language that we’ve seen coming from government in recent months has fed into that divisive rhetoric and I want to see that change today.
I’m sure all MPs in my party are prepared to have discussions with the government about what a fair and humane immigration system can look like, but not if we’re trying to feed into the rhetoric of quite far-right organisations, quite frankly.
BBC chair Samir Shah tells staff Trump has ‘no basis’ for libel case and corporation ‘determined’ to fight it
The BBC chair, Samir Shah, has told staff that the corporation is “determined” to fight any defamation action brought by Donald Trump. The president has no case, Shah says.
In a note to staff seen by PA Media, Shah says:
There is a lot being written, said and speculated upon about the possibility of legal action, including potential costs or settlements.
In all this we are, of course, acutely aware of the privilege of our funding and the need to protect our licence fee payers, the British public.
I want to be very clear with you – our position has not changed. There is no basis for a defamation case and we are determined to fight this.
Last week I took the opportunity to speak with the executive team and am reassured of their resolute focus on ensuring the BBC continues to deliver on behalf of audiences and staff.
I know they plan to spend as much time as possible with their teams over the coming weeks to reinforce the importance of that work and answer your questions.
Mahmood’s asylum statement delayed until after 5pm, after speaker grants 3 UQs
There will be three urgent questions in the Commons after 3.30pm. That means that Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, will not start her asylum statement until after 5pm – and probably nearer 5.30pm, or perhaps even later.
The UQs are, in order:
A Treasury minister responding to a Tory UQ on “briefings to the press about the contents of the budget”.
An energy minister responding to a Plaid Cymru UQ about the new modular nuclear reactors being built at Wylfa.
And an environment minister responding to a Lib Dem UQ about the Environment Agency and the dumping of waste in the countryside.
This announcement won’t be welcome by the media, because it means Mahmood will still be responding to questions in the Commons by the time the main evening news bulletins start going out, and reporters file their first stories for the morning papers.
Lindsay Hoyle, the speaker, is the person who decides whether or not to allow UQs, and he may be angry that the Home Office has already announced much of what’s in the asylum policy over the weekend. Ministers are supposed to make big policy announcements in the Commons first.
Normally No 10 likes big ministerial statements to start earlier. But today, with many Labour MPs lining up to criticise the policy, the Downing Street spin doctors may not worry too much if the statement goes past deadline hour.
Reform UK deputy leader won’t criticise student wing president who says UK-born BAME people not necessarily British
Peter Walker
Peter Walker is the Guardian’s senior political correspondent.
The deputy leader of Reform UK has declined to distance the party from the views of the head of its student wing, who argued that UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not necessarily British.
The comments by Richard Tice at a press conference are significant in that they indicate a change to Nigel Farage’s longstanding policy of trying to keep far-right and ethno-nationalist viewpoints and supporters out of the parties he has led.
Asked about the opinions expressed by Matthew Goodwin, a former academic who is now a prominent Reform supporter and was unveiled last week as honorary president of Students4Reform, Richard Tice pushed back against the idea that these echoed far-right opinions, appearing to say that they instead reflected mainstream voter opinions.
Tice told the Guardian:
I just think your assessment is completely wrong. Matthew is putting out some really important messaging. You may or may not agree with all of it, any of it, or none of it, but that’s the joy of free speech. The very fact that Reform has moved the whole debate on illegal immigration, legal immigration, shows that actually we’re in touch with the wishes of the people. I know about all these sort of smear labels. I just think the message from the voters, voting for us in record numbers, tells a story.
Goodwin’s arguments came in posts on the day after a mass stabbing on a train in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire. Goodwin was challenged for saying immigration was to blame after it emerged that two men arrested – one was later released – were black Britons born in the UK.
Goodwin responded: “So were all of the 7/7 bombers. It takes more than a piece of paper to make somebody ‘British’.”
In another X post later that day, Goodwin referred to the two then-suspects as “Black ‘British’ men”.
Asked if he agreed with Goodwin on this, Tice dodged the question:
I can agree with Matthew on lots of things. Life would be boring if you agree with absolutely everything.
Goodwin told the Guardian last week that he stood by the posts but that the views were not far-right. He said people who were first or second generation immigrants “are more likely to retain cultural traits and habits from parents”.
He added:
Clearly many integrate successfully but fact remains we have British citizens who reject integration in favour of retaining their origin culture. This is as much our failure as theirs but it is the reality we are living with. It is not ‘far-right’ to think this.
The idea of people being less likely to be properly British based on their ethnicity is, however, closely linked to far-right views.
Nigel Farage has long refused to accept such opinions in his party, from refusing to work with the British National party as leader of Ukip to maintaining a distance from the far-right anti-Islam agitator Tommy Robinson.
No 10 defends asylum plans, saying voters want system brought under control
Last week Tommy Robinson, the far-right activist (whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon), welcomed the news that the government was planning to stop most asylum seekers being allowed to stay in the UK permanently.
At the Downing Street lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson was asked how Keir Starmer felt about the fact Robinson seemed to be endorsing these plans. The spokesperson would not engage on the Robinson point, but he defended the proposals in general terms. He said:
For too long Britain has lived with an asylum system that’s broken, spiralling costs and growing public frustration. It has undermined trust, it’s placed pressure on public services, it’s left genuine refugees trapped in limbo. That is not fair on anyone involved, and this government has been fixing the mess we inherited.
As the home secretary has said, across Europe, asylum claims are falling, but in Britain they are rising. In the last four years, 400,000 people claimed asylum here. More than 100,000 are housed and supported at the taxpayers’ expense, putting huge pressure on local communities.
That is why, we are announcing plan today first, to make it less attractive for illegal migrants to come to Britain, second to make it easier to remove illegal migrants from British soil, and third to maintain fairness through safe legal routes for genuine refugees.
This is about reducing the pressure caused by uncontrolled immigration while keeping Britain true to its proud tradition of offering refuge to those in danger.
UPDATE: At the lobby briefing, asked if the government was “chasing hard-right voters” with this policy, the PM’s spokesperson replied:
We are responding to the mandate we have been given and the public can tell that the pace and scale of illegal migration is out of control, unfair and placing 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 decline and build a Britain for all.
Asked whether the government was “talking the language of Reform”, he added:
No, we are talking the language of dealing with an asylum system that is in chaos.
Trump and Starmer have yet to speak about BBC and $1bn damages claim, despite president proposing call over weekend
At the end of last week Donald Trump told reporters that he planned to speak to Keir Starmer over the weekend about the BBC. The US president is still angry about the way his 6 January 2021 speech was edited in a Panorama documentary, and says he will sue for at least $1bn in damages.
But no call has yet taken place, government sources have indicated.
Downing Street says, when calls with the president do take place, a readout is provided in the usual way.
Labour MP Sarah Owen describes jewellery removal threat in asylum plan as ‘repugnant’
The Labour MP Sarah Owen, who represents Luton North and who chairs the women and equalities committee in the Commons, has also spoken out against the asylum plans. In posts on Bluesky she said:
A strong immigration system doesn’t need to be a cruel one.
It shouldn’t need saying – but refugees & asylum seekers are real people, fleeing war and persecution.
This daughter of an immigrant is proud of our British and Labour values of respect and not turning our backs on people in real need.
There is no evidence that stripping refugees’ rights one by one will have any impact on people crossing the channel.
Taking jewellery from refugees is akin to painting over murals for refugee children.
These repugnant ‘deterrents’ did not work for the Tories, and they won’t work for us.
The majority of us want to stop the crossings & any gaming of the system – not least for those whose lives are endangered, exploited by criminals and cheated out of £thousands.
We can have both a tough stance on illegal migration & build a compassionate, fair & legal path for those seeking refuge.
Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed says asylum plans likely to create further ‘chaos, cost and division’
The Labour MP Abtisam Mohamed, who worked as an immigration lawyer before being elected for Sheffield Central last year, has also joined those speaking out against the asylum plans. In a post on social media she said:
For more than a decade we’ve seen that hostile policies don’t fix the asylum system they just create chaos, cost, and deeper division. The latest proposals repeat the same mistake.
When our own process recognises someone as a refugee, stripping them of stability later doesn’t strengthen control; it weakens trust in the system. Other countries have tried constant reassessments, and it simply swallowed resources without delivering mass returns.
If we truly want an asylum system that works, the answer is clear: faster decisions, better accommodation, and a functioning agreement with France. Punishing recognised refugees won’t achieve any of that.
We need a fair, workable approach, not another round of policies that divide communities and fail on their own terms.
These arguments are similar to Simon Opher’s. (See 11.27am.)
The government is describing its plans being announced today as the “most sweeping reforms to the asylum system in modern times”. But, in a thread on Bluesky, Sunder Katwala, director of British Future, a thinktank focusing on migration, race and identity, argues that is not correct.
Here are some of his posts.
I am not sure these are the biggest reforms for decades/for a generation.
Core proposal is incredibly similar in analysis, spirit and content to 2022 Nationality and Borders Act of Priti Patel (offer temporary protection of 30 months)
The 2023 Illegal Migration Act more sweeping Both failed
That this was 2022 policy of last government is not necessarily a reason not to do it.
But ignoring that avoids question of why it failed
Much tougher policy on “pull factors” (refuse all claims) failed
So analysis of asylum system rules as pull factor is exaggerated/wrong & changes won’t impact
If this 2025 policy was likely have major impacts on journeys, the boats would already have stopped in 2022-2023-2024 when it and a tougher policy were tried
Britain had much tougher asylum rules in 2023-24 than Denmark after the Illegal Migration Act. That is a proof that Danish rules in the UK won’t deliver a similar outcome: the drivers of journeys to the UK and Demark differ. (Eg English language; eg the smuggling route in place now)
Asylum seekers won’t lose ‘family heirlooms’ under plan to make them contribute if they have assets, minister says
The Liberal Democrats did not say much about the government’s asylum plans over the weekend. But this morning Max Wilkinson, the party’s home affairs spokersperson, has issued a statement criticising the suggestion from Alex Norris this morning that asylum seekers with valuable assets could have to surrender them to contribute to the costs of processing their claims.
The government must fix the asylum system, but stripping vulnerable people of their family heirlooms will not fix a system that is costing taxpayers £6m every day in hotel bills.
This policy goes against who we are – a nation that has long responded with compassion to those fleeing the worst atrocities imaginable.
The government has specifically said that it will not remove heirlooms from people. Norris told Times Radio: “We will not be taking family heirlooms off individuals.”
These are from my colleague Peter Walker, who has been at the Reform UK press conference, where Richard Tice, the deputy leader, has been speaking.
I’m at a Reform UK press conference where Richard Tice is setting out how the party plans to save money in local government. On Send support he singles out what he calls “a crisis of over-diagnosis” among children.
Tice: “One of the key issues here is these EHCPs [education, health and care plans], middle class parents playing the game in order to save the VAT on independent school fees.”
Asked about Shabana Mahmood’s plans to shake-up asylum, Tice says the home secretary “is beginning to sound as if she is sort of putting in an application” to join Reform.
Just spotted that Sarah Pochin is at this press conference. She’s being allowed out again, if not in a speaking role. She is sat next to party chair David Bull, who is presumably instructed to hustle her out of the door if she starts talking about burqas or the ethnicity of people on TV
Labour MP Simon Opher criticises asylum plans, saying party should challenge Reform UK’s ‘racist agenda’, not ‘echo it’
The Labour MP Simon Opher, a GP who won Stroud from the Conservatives at the last election, has released a statement criticising the government’s asylum plans. He says Labour should “push back on the racist agenda of Reform rather than echo it”.
Here is the statement in full.
We should stop the boats because it’s dangerous, and we should stop the scapegoating of immigrants because it’s wrong and cruel.
Controlled migration is good for the country, helps build our economy and diversity strengthens our communities.
We need faster decisions, a relationship with the French authorities that works and better accommodation. In other words, a fair and workable approach that offers certainty, treats people with dignity and reflects our humanity.
Measures that create bureaucracy and insecurity do not offer clarity or strengthen control – they cost money, waste time and weaken the system.
We should push back on the racist agenda of Reform rather than echo it. And over all this, our focus needs to be tackling inequality: housing, the economy, education, health and all those other areas where we know that we can make a real difference to people’s lives.
Failing to deliver there is what leads to people looking for scapegoats and being persuaded by the dangerous rhetoric of those who don’t care about equality or improving the life chances of ordinary working people.
That’s why I came into politics, it’s why I’m a Labour MP and it’s why we elected our Labour government last year.
Tony Vaughan’s tweet criticising the government’s asylum plans has been shared by eight other Labour MPs, the Express is reporting. They are: John McDonnell, Bell Ribeiro-Addy, Stella Creasy, Clive Lewis, Nadia Whittome, Kate Osborne, Olivia Blake and Peter Lamb.
But that does not count as “civil war”, as the Express headline implies. Sharing a tweet is about the mildest form of dissent available.
In private, there must be many Labour MPs uncomfortable about these plans. But at the moment the number speaking out publicly is very limited. No 10 has been unusually strict about removing the whip from MPs who criticise the government, and that may be one reason why people are holding back. But there are also Labour MPs who accept that drastic action is needed on small boats.
We’ll get a clearer sense of what backbenchers actually think when Shabana Mahmood addresses the Commons later.
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