The UK could suspend visas from countries that do not “play ball” and agree to returns deals for migrants, the new home secretary has said.
Speaking to broadcasters, Shabana Mahmood repeatedly said that her “top priority” is to “secure our borders”, and called on countries to take back their citizens if they have no right to be in the UK.
The government is under vast pressure to stop small boats crossing the English Channel – over 30,000 people have arrived so far this year, including over 1,000 people on Saturday alone.
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The new home secretary is hosting her counterparts from fellow members of the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance – which includes the US, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand – to discuss “what more we can do to work together to make sure that our borders are secure and that all citizens feel safe”.
Pic: PA
Speaking to broadcasters during the summit, Ms Mahmood said: “For countries that do not play ball, we’ve been talking about how we can take much more co-ordinated action between the Five Eyes countries.
“For us, that means including possibly the cutting of visas in the future, just to say, you know, we do expect countries to play ball, play by the rules, and if one of your citizens has no right to be in our country, you do need to take them back.”
She repeatedly vowed to do “whatever it takes” to stop small boat crossings, and she rejected the suggestion that she is emulating policies already proposed by other parties, saying: “This is a Labour government with Labour policy and Labour proposals.
“We’ve been looking at this for some time. It’s been discussed already across the government, and I’m very clear that there has to be a strong approach to maintaining our border, and that does mean saying to countries who do not take their citizens back that we’re not simply going to allow our laws to remain unenforced.”
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Sam and Anne discuss the differences between Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood.
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But shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “All we get from Labour are tough words. I urged them to immediately use the powers which the last government created some months ago, but nothing has happened. We should also cut overseas aid to countries not taking back their own nationals.
“This Labour government is too weak to take the steps necessary to protect our borders, and I see no sign of that changing any time soon.”
Ms Mahmood also suggested that the government could roll out digital ID as part of measures to prevent illegal working and reduce the “pull factors” that draw migrants to the UK.
While she has long been personally in favour of them, she said the government current position is to “look at” them, and she will be “discussing” the possibility of rolling them out with government colleagues.
Balance between human rights and securing borders
The home secretary also reiterated that the UK will not be leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – as Reform UK and some in the Tory party have called for – because that would have “other consequences that we think are not in our national interest”.
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“We absolutely see the case for reform primarily in our domestic, legal framework, tightening up the rules,” she said.
“In the end, this is about how you strike the balance between human rights on the one hand, and securing our borders. I do think that that balance isn’t in the right place at the moment. That’s why we will come forward with changes to our domestic legislation and the guidance in terms of how we apply some of the convention rights legally here at home.”
She added that she will continue work she started in her previous post of justice secretary to reform the convention and ensure it is “fit for purpose in the modern era”.
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Ms Mahmood’s comments come on her third day in her new role of home secretary, which she was given in a wide-ranging cabinet and ministerial reshuffle, triggered by the resignation of Angela Rayner as housing secretary and deputy prime minister on Friday, after admitting to underpaying stamp duty on a new property.
There was a clear out of the ministerial team in the Home Office, with new ministers brought in as the government seeks to get a grip on small boat crossings and close asylum hotels amid protests.
Dover MP Mike Tapp – a strong proponent of taking tough measures to break up criminal gangs and stop boats landing on British shores – is one of those MPs who has been given his first ministerial role in the Home Office.
