Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has denied that her plans to clamp down on illegal immigration are “racist” – instead describing them as a “moral mission”.

Shabana Mahmood said illegal immigration was causing “huge divides” in the UK, and added: “I do believe we need to act if we are to retain public consent for having an asylum system at all.”

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Speaking on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, Ms Mahmood said the government would set out changes to the asylum system in a bid to reduce the “pull factor” for those arriving in the UK via small boat.

The home secretary has been looking to Denmark for inspiration, where there are tighter rules on family reunions and restrictions on how long refugees can stay.

Measures that are expected to be announced on Monday include changing the rules so that people who are granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay temporarily, and will have their refugee status subject to regular review.

The statutory legal duty to provide asylum seeker support, including housing and weekly allowances, is expected to be revoked.

Ms Mahmood said such changes were needed to fix the “broken” asylum system.

‘Moral mission’

But asked how she would respond to those who believe the government has been “panicked into a racist immigration policy”, Ms Mahmood said: “I reject that entirely.”

“I am the child of immigrants,” she said. “My parents came to this country legally, in the late 60s and early 70s. This is a moral mission for me.”

Ms Mahmood said she had observed how illegal migration had been “creating division across our country”.

“I can see that it is polarising communities across the country. I can see that it is dividing people and making them estranged from one another. I don’t want to stand back and watch that happen in my country.”

Under current UK rules, people who are granted refugee status have it for five years and can then apply for indefinite leave to remain and get on a route to citizenship.

The government has already announced it will change the rules around indefinite leave to remain with a new set of requirements, including how much someone contributes to the UK and higher English language requirements.

The move to impose tighter restrictions have been interpreted as a way for Labour to counter the threat posed by Nigel Farage and Reform UK, which has laid out plans to deport people who already have ILR – which gives people the right to settle, work and study in the UK and even claim benefits, even if they do not then apply to be British citizens.

Ms Mahmood said that highlighting issues in the system did not amount to making “right-wing talking points or fake news” and that the government had a “genuine problem to fix”.

Although Ms Mahmood is seeking to emulate aspects of the Danish asylum system, she is not copying it in full.

In Denmark, asylum seekers’ access to public housing is restricted in certain areas where there are more than 30% of ethnic minorities, low levels of education and low incomes.

The home secretary said she was not going to “dictate where people live based on percentages”.

Asked if this was one of the measures the UK government may adopt, the home secretary said: “That’s not the sort of country that we are.”

Alongside bringing in measures to mimic Denmark, Ms Mahmood said she would also announce plans to reform the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – aspects of which she said had been used to “frustrate the removal” of those with no right to be in the UK.

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Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said Labour’s plans to reduce immigration were merely a “series of gimmicks” while Zia Yusuf, Reform’s head of policy, claimed Ms Mahmood would be blocked from bringing in her plans by her own MPs.

Meanwhile, the SNP have branded the government’s reforms to asylum policy “outrageous”, and have accused Labour of “dancing to Nigel Farage’s tune on immigration”.

The party’s concerns were echoed by the Greens, whose deputy leader Mothin Ali said the furore over the number of people arriving in the UK on small boats was a “very manufactured problem”.

He told Sky News: “To me, it feels like a very manufactured problem. It’s a problem that’s been created to create outrage.”

Max Wilkinson, the Liberal Democrats’ home affairs spokesperson, told Sky News it was “right” that the government was aiming to tackle illegal migration, but said some of the language used had been a “bit uncomfortable”.

A teenager has been charged with murder and attempted murder following the death of a 17-year-old girl, police have said.

Armed police were called to Cefn Fforest in Blackwood, Wales, at around 7.15am on Thursday after being told two people were seriously injured.

Lainie Williams was pronounced dead at the scene, while a second, a 38-year-old woman, who also sustained injuries, has been discharged from hospital.

Gwent Police said 18-year-old Cameron Cheng, a British national from Newbridge, Caerphilly, has also been charged with possession of a bladed article in a public place.

He is remanded to appear before Newport Magistrates’ Court on 17 November.

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Assistant Chief Constable Vicki Townsend said: “We understand that there has been a great deal of interest in this investigation.

“It is vital that people consider how their language, especially comments made online, could affect our ability to bring anyone found to have committed a criminal offence to justice.

“Even though we’ve reached this significant development in the investigation, our enquiries continue so it is likely that residents will continue to see officers in the area.

“So if anyone has any information, please speak to our officers or contact us in the usual way.”

The home secretary is set to unveil sweeping measures to tackle illegal migration, vowing to end the UK’s ‘golden ticket’ for asylum seekers.

People granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay in the country temporarily, in the changes expected to be unveiled on Monday by Shabana Mahmood.

Modelled on the Danish system, the aim is to make the UK less attractive for illegal immigrants and make it easier to deport them.

Planned changes mean that refugee status will become temporary and subject to regular review, with refugees removed as soon as their home countries are deemed safe.

The Home Office said the “golden ticket” deal has seen asylum claims surge in the UK, drawing people across Europe, through safe countries, onto dangerous small boats.

Under current UK rules, those granted refugee status have it for five years and can then apply for indefinite leave to remain and get on a route to citizenship.

As part of the changes, the statutory legal duty to provide asylum seeker support, including housing and weekly allowances, will be revoked.

The government will seek to remove asylum support, including accommodation and handouts, to those who have a right to work and who can support themselves but choose not to or those who break UK law.

‘Last chance for a decent politics’

A government source said Ms Mahmood believes her reforms are about “more than the electoral fortunes of her party”.

“This is the last chance for a decent, mainstream politics. If these moderate forces fail, she believes, something darker will follow,” they said.

“But this demands that moderates are willing to do things that will seem immoderate to some. She has reminded those who are reluctant to embrace her ambition for bold reform, with an ultimatum: ‘if you don’t like this, you won’t like what follows me.'”

Ms Mahmood said they were the most sweeping changes to the asylum system “in a generation”, as she vowed the government will “restore order and control to our borders”.

The home secretary also told The Sunday Times that “I can see – and I know my colleagues can – that illegal migration is tearing our country apart”.

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System being ‘gamed’

The source said Ms Mahmood believes the system is being “gamed by those travelling on boats or abusing legal visas”.

Some 39,075 people have arrived in the UK after making the journey across the Channel so far this year, according to the latest Home Office figures.

That is an increase of 19% on the same point in 2024 and up 43% on 2023, but remains 5% lower than at the equivalent point in 2022, which remains the peak year for crossings.

What happened in Denmark?

The UK government points to Denmark remaining a signatory of the European Convention on Human Rights, while also cutting the number of asylum applications to the lowest number in 40 years and successfully removing 95% of rejected asylum seekers.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the Labour government has “lost control” of the UK’s borders” with illegal channel crossings “surging to over 62,000 since the election”.

He said some of the new measures were welcome but “they stop well short of what is really required and some are just yet more gimmicks – like the previous ‘smash the gangs’ gimmick”.

Mr Philp added: “Only the Conservative borders plan will end illegal immigration – by leaving the ECHR, banning asylum claims for illegal immigrants, deporting all illegal arrivals within a week and establishing a Removals Force to deport 150,000 illegal immigrants each year.”

And Enver Solomon, chief executive of Refugee Council, said: “These sweeping changes will not deter people from making dangerous crossings, but they will unfairly prevent men, women and children from putting down roots and integrating into British life.”

Ms Mahmood will be appearing on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips from 8.30am on Sunday.