Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has sparked a political row by saying she wants to significantly expand safe and legal routes for refugees into the UK once the asylum system is “fixed”.Speaking on Matt Ford’s Party podcast, Mahmoud said she aimed to “go bigger” on legal immigration pathways, including a capped scheme for refugee students, skilled workers and community-sponsored immigration, similar to the Ukraine House scheme.However, she said expansion would first depend on restoring public trust and cracking down on illegal immigration, arguing that only then could the UK “break the gang business model behind people smuggling”.Her comments sparked a backlash across the political spectrum.
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Reform UK MP Suela Braverman criticized the proposals, arguing that the UK cannot “simply open its doors to vulnerable people around the world” but must “put the British people first”.
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Within Labor, the plans have also sparked internal resistance, with more than 100 MPs reportedly signing a letter urging ministers to reconsider changes to settlement rules and immigration pathways.Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner has previously called the proposals “un-British”.Mahmoud also proposed doubling the time migrant workers can receive indefinite leave from five to ten years and extending the refugee pathway to twenty years, while limiting automatic family reunification rights.Downing Street is reportedly considering transition arrangements to mitigate the impact of the reforms.Currently, fewer than 1,000 refugees will enter the UK via formal safe routes until September 2025, excluding schemes in Ukraine and Hong Kong.Mahmoud defended her approach as a balance between competing political pressures, saying it was aimed at restoring fairness and public confidence in the immigration system while ultimately expanding safe routes in a controlled way.
