The left-wing Labour Party government will introduce a scheme to import fresh waves of supposed asylum seekers into Britain, modelled on the programme which brought hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to the United Kingdom.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who was pitched to the public as an immigration hardliner when she was installed as the government’s top border official last year, is set to implement a new asylum route in which businesses, community organisations, and universities will be allowed to sponsor supposed refugees to come to the country, according to the BBC.
The Times of London, which broke the story, reported that the programme will be based on the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, which brought upwards of 200,000 displaced Ukrainians to the UK following the Russian invasion of their homeland in 2022.
The plan is being presented as a means of reducing the number of illegals who cross the English Channel on people smuggler small boats by offering prospective illegals “safe” and legal routes to enter the country.
It remains to be seen if the long-proposed leftist solution to the crisis will be effective, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer overseeing the largest number of illegal Channel crossings of any leader in recorded history.
The pitch for the scheme also comes amid questions over the future of Home Secretary Mahmood, with rumours swirling around Westminster that the likely future PM, Andy Burnham, may sack her over anger within the Labour Party over some of her immigration reforms, which have included setting a time limit on refugee status and increasing the number of years in the country needed to gain permanent residency from five to ten years.
Commenting on her new scheme, Mahmood said it would focus on protecting “genuine refugees” while “closing loopholes that have been too often abused”.
“Britain has always offered sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution,” Mahmood said. “But this system only survives if the public trusts that it is fair, controlled, and not open to abuse.”
However, others were not convinced that Britain is in a position to continue taking in more migrants, given the influx of millions of foreigners since the start of the decade.
Conservative MP Katie Lam remarked: “So Shabana’s plan to stop illegal migration is…to just let everybody in? This mad plan will let ‘community groups’ sponsor migrants, meaning more chain migration – and if people can’t get in legally, they’ll cross the Channel anyway.”
“They’ll do anything but secure the border,” she said.
Meanwhile, there are reports that if given power, former Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham would scrap the limited restrictions imposed by Mahmood, including the additional time required to receive residency and access to Britain’s generous welfare state.
Reform UK Shadow Home Secretary Zia Yusuf warned that such a repeal would result in 2.2 million migrants being granted residence permits over the next few years and potentially putting the British taxpayer on the hook for £622 billion in handouts over the coming decades.
Yusuf has vowed to eliminate the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) residency permits and replace them with an American-style five-year work visa system. The Nigel Farage-led party would also rescind residency for those dependent on the state, including those living in accommodations paid for by the British government.