𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Kemi Badenoch sensationally urged Shabana Mahmood to work with her “in the national interest” to end Britain’s asylum crisis and defeat a growing Labour revolt over migration.

The Conservative leader declared the Home Secretary’s plan to overhaul human rights laws and ramp up deportations were “doomed to fail” because they will be blocked by judges.

And left-wing plotters, Mrs Badenoch warned, could leave Labour needing support from the Conservatives to get the proposals through Parliament.

Comparing it to bungled plans to slash welfare spending, the Tory leader insisted backbench MPs would conspire again to bring down the proposals designed to end the abuse of the asylum system.

Mrs Badenoch told MPs: “She seems to get what many on the benches behind refuse to accept.

“Anyone who cannot see by now that simply tinkering with the current system simply isn’t going to fix this problem is either living in La-La-land or being wilfully obstructive.

“It is a shame it has taken Labour a year in office to realise there is a borders crisis.

“The problem has got worse since Labour came into office and it is getting even worse by the day.

“What she is announcing is not going to work on its own.

“Some of these measures will in fact take us backwards.”

The Conservative Party leader added: “We need to be bold, serious, and unafraid to do what the British people demand: secure our borders.

“You can be sure that MPs behind the Home Secretary are already plotting to block any changes she tries to make.

“We can help her with that.

“I would say to the Home Secretary this is a genuine offer in the national interest.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage added: “Whilst the strong language from Shabana Mahmood is encouraging, even an audition to join Reform, I have serious doubts.

“Will it survive her own backbenchers in a vote?

“Will the new legal routes lead to even higher numbers?

“With the ECHR in place can any of this work?”

Under Labour’s plans, asylum seekers will be granted temporary protection in the UK, with reviews every 30 months to determine whether their home country is safe for them to be returned home.

And the Government will target families whose asylum claims have been refused for deportation, creating another potential flashpoint with Labour MPs.

The Home Office is also looking at forcibly deporting Syrians again following the brutal civil war which ravaged the Middle Eastern country.

Human rights laws will be overhauled to limit how failed asylum seekers and foreign criminals can claim a right to a family life.

A family will be defined as “parents and their children”, under new Home Office plans.

And judges will be ordered to prioritise public safety and immigration controls over Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights – the right to a family life.

Labour has also insisted the UK – alongside European allies – will try to renegotiate Article 3 – the right to freedom from persecution and torture amid fears it is being abused.

Ms Mahmood told the Commons: “We will never return anyone to be tortured in their home country, but the definition of “degrading treatment” has expanded into the realm of the ridiculous.

“Today, we have criminals we seek to deport, but discover we cannot because the prisons in their home country have cells that are deemed too small, or even mental health provision that is not as good as our own.”  

But Mrs Badenoch responded, telling MPs: “Renegotiating Article 3 internationally will take years. Years we don’t have, if it were even possible. But the fact is, it isn’t.

“We know this because a small group of EU countries tried this earlier this year, but they were dismissed, by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.

“Her government did nothing to support them, so I am not convinced the Prime Minister’s negotiating skills are going to sort out that problem.

“The fact is we have looked at this issue from every possible direction.

“And the reality is that any plan that doesn’t include leaving the ECHR as a necessary step is wasting time we don’t have.

“Just like their plan to smash the gangs or the one in one out policy,

“It is time wasting and it is doomed to fail due to lawfare.

“We’ve seen this all before.

“The tough measures will be challenged in the courts and blocked. The new legal routes she’s talking about will be exploited.

“And the numbers arriving on our shores and disappearing into the black economy will keep on rising.”

Labour will also trial “increased incentive payments” to convince people to return to their home countries, Home Office documents show.

Migrants are currently offered up to £3,000 to leave the UK voluntarily. This is set to increase, but the Home Office refused to say by how much.

Refugees will be told to wait 20 years before applying for settlement rights and jewellery and cars could be seized from asylum seekers to pay for accommodation costs.

Countries that refuse to take back illegal migrants from Britain will face visa bans.

But Ms Mahmood’s proposals sparked uproar from members of her own party, with Labour MPs branding it “performative cruelty”, “politically disastrous” and warned of a “real degree of disgust” amongst politicians.

Veteran left-wing MP Ian Byrne said: “We’ve drifted far from the PM’s promise of ‘compassion and dignity’, towards policies dragged from the moral abyss and applauded by far-right figures like Farage and Yaxley-Lennon.

“It’s morally bankrupt and politically disastrous – our party won’t win voters back this way.

“Those who’ve left have turned to progressive parties, and those who’ve stayed will be appalled by these latest attacks on people fleeing war and persecution.”

The Home Office will introduce powers to seize valuables such as jewellery and cars to pay towards asylum hotels.

Only items without sentimental value would be seized, so wedding rings and family heirlooms would be exempt.

Left-wing Labour MP Richard Burgon said: “This approach isn’t just morally wrong; it’s politically disastrous.

“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.”

Brian Leishman, the MP for Alloa & Grangemouth, described some of the proposals to be announced this afternoon as “very Reform in their nature”.

He told Times Radio: “Speaking with other Labour MPs I know that there’s a real degree of disgust at some of these proposals.”

He added: “What we’ve got to do is absolutely have an honest and frank analysis and admit that Britain has never actually been this incredibly welcoming place for immigrants…This is nothing new and what I will say, some of the proposals that have been leaked, they do sound very Reform in their nature.”