London Mayor joins senior Labour figures questioning proposed changes to indefinite leave to remain as divisions over immigration and Brexit expose tensions within the government.
Labour’s internal divisions over immigration policy have deepened after London Mayor Sadiq Khan criticised proposals by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to change the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain, warning against retrospectively altering the rules.
“I’m somebody who’s not in favour of changing rules retrospectively, but also I’m somebody who recognises we need to control our borders,” Khan said.
He added that migrants should contribute to the UK while insisting that compassion must remain central to immigration policy.
“I’m confident once Shabana Mahmood has taken on board the responses to the consultation, she’ll announce a policy that we can all get behind,” he said.
Khan’s intervention adds to mounting pressure on Mahmood from within Labour, following criticism from senior figures including Angela Rayner and Miatta Fahnbulleh. The dispute presents the Home Secretary with the challenge of tightening immigration rules while securing support from colleagues concerned about the fairness and consequences of retrospective changes.
The tensions extend beyond settlement policy to the government’s handling of small-boat crossings in the Channel.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has broken with Mahmood’s position on Brexit’s role in the crisis, with No 10 arguing that the UK’s departure from the European Union has made it harder to control illegal immigration.
Mahmood has previously rejected the argument that Brexit caused the boats.
“Is Brexit responsible for the boats? I don’t think that’s true,” she said, while acknowledging that other debates about the merits of Brexit remained.
The competing positions expose a broader disagreement over the relationship between Britain’s departure from the EU and its ability to manage irregular migration.
No 10 said the Brexit deal had “weakened the UK’s ability to track illegal arrivals in the UK”, as Starmer prepares to discuss Britain’s future relationship with the bloc.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman insisted there were currently “no options on the table” for that relationship and rejected a reporter’s suggestion that Starmer was a “sore loser”.
For Mahmood, the challenge is increasingly political as well as administrative: delivering a tougher immigration agenda while navigating disagreement within her own party over both the rules and the reasons behind Britain’s border pressures.
Leave a Comment