Category Archives: Shabana Mahmood

Minister says Mahmood’s migration policy will ‘prolong integration’

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In now-removed post, Miatta Fahnbulleh criticised home secretary’s proposal to extend qualifying period for settlement in UK

The energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, appears to have criticised Shabana Mahmood’s migration policy in a post on her constituency website, in which she suggested she had concerns that a longer settlement process could affect integration.

Fahnbulleh has since removed the critique, which appeared in a write-up of a community meeting in Peckham, her south London constituency, in September, saying it was not a true representation of her views.

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Eritrea accuses Shabana Mahmood of ‘political gimmick’ over visa ban threat

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Home secretary says she will block all Eritreans from UK unless a returns deal is agreed for rejected asylum seekers and criminals

Shabana Mahmood has been accused of launching a “perfunctory political gimmick” by the Eritrean government in a row over the return of rejected asylum seekers and criminals.

After the home secretary threatened to block all Eritreans from entering the UK unless a returns deal was agreed, the country’s embassy claimed the UK had failed to engage in “meaningful and appropriate” dialogue.

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Security for high-profile public figures to be reviewed after Ann Widdecombe’s murder

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Home secretary vows to defend against ‘threats from without and within that target our democracy’

Security arrangements for high-profile public figures including politicians and members of the royal family are to be urgently reviewed in the wake of the killing of Ann Widdecombe, Shabana Mahmood said on Monday.

The home secretary said former MPs, party leaders who are not MPs, peers, former members of devolved parliaments and party spokespeople will also be offered police support.

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Children and women included in Reform plan to immediately deport 90,000 asylum seekers

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Farage’s party says it would ‘embed’ immigration enforcement in UK and use ‘aerial imaging’ to identify people

Children and mothers would not be exempt from plans by Reform UK to immediately deport 90,000 asylum seekers and impose a five-year ban on people being granted asylum.

The party’s most hardline immigration policies to date were condemned by refugee charities and others as “unworkable” and an abandonment of Britain’s tradition of helping victims of war after they were announced by Nigel Farage on Monday.

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UK accused of giving people of Gaza false hope over new refugee safe route

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Only ‘very small number’ of people already in Lebanon or Jordan will be referred, says organisation running scheme

The Home Office is facing claims it gave false hope to the people of Gaza after it emerged that a new safe route for Palestinian refugees will only be open to those who have already escaped to Lebanon or Jordan.

Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, announced the reopening of a resettlement scheme for refugees at Labour’s annual conference last month. A statement from her department said: “Around one in four referrals will be for Afghan women and girls and Palestinian refugees, fleeing war and persecution.”

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Three people dead, including a child, in attempt to cross Channel to UK

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Official says deaths – and dozens of injuries – were probably caused by crushing on boat carrying 105 people

A 10-year-old child and two women died ⁠attempting ​to cross the Channel on Monday, French authorities have said.

Their deaths and the injuries of dozens of others in a large dinghy were probably caused by crushing, according to a French official.

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UK to open new refugee resettlement routes for Afghan women and Palestinians

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Exclusive: Move by Shabana Mahmood comes after closure of Afghan scheme last year but experts say numbers too small to deter Channel crossings

Shabana Mahmood will announce a new legal route for refugees that prioritises Afghan women and girls and Palestinians, unfreezing a scheme that will put the most vulnerable refugees on a faster path to permanent status.

The change marks a shift in Mahmood’s approach to asylum seekers after the abrupt closure of the Afghan resettlement scheme last year and changes that will keep refugee status under constant review for two decades.

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Victims say Home Office attempt to curtail spycops inquiry will result in a ‘cover-up’

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Shabana Mahmood is concerned about length and £144m cost of inquiry into intrusive police surveillance

Victims of intrusive police surveillance have accused the government of seeking to cut short the spycops public inquiry that has been examining widespread misconduct committed by undercover officers.

The independent judge-led inquiry is scrutinising how officers, who spied on tens of thousands of political activists over more than four decades, carried out abuses such as deceiving women into sexual relationships and fathering children.

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‘Outright racist’ Daniel Thomas will face full force of law over any crimes, says home secretary

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Shabana Mahmood says she wants to distinguish between far-right extremism and legitimate local concerns over asylum sites

Shabana Mahmood has described the anti-asylum activist Daniel Thomas as “a far-right and outright racist” who will feel “the full force of the law” if his organisation commits crimes near contested asylum sites such as Piddington.

In an interview with the Guardian, the home secretary also “wanted to reassure” concerned villagers that asylum seekers due to move in to a neighbouring former defence site would not put pressure on local resources because they would be given self-contained facilities.

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UK paying £56,000 for each person returned to France under ‘one in one out’ scheme

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Home secretary defends cost, saying it is about the same or cheaper than putting someone up in a hotel for a year

The government’s “one in, one out” deal is costing about £56,000 for every person sent back to France, Shabana Mahmood has told MPs.

The home secretary disclosed the figure as she was questioned by the home affairs select committee over whether the scheme was delivering value for taxpayers.

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UK paying £56,000 for each person returned to France under ‘one in one out’ scheme

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Home secretary defends cost, saying it is about the same or cheaper than putting someone up in a hotel for a year

The government’s “one in, one out” deal is costing about £56,000 for every person sent back to France, Shabana Mahmood has told MPs.

The home secretary disclosed the figure as she was questioned by the home affairs select committee over whether the scheme was delivering value for taxpayers.

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UK paying £56,000 for each person returned to France under ‘one in one out’ scheme

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Home secretary defends cost, saying it is about the same or cheaper than putting someone up in a hotel for a year

The government’s “one in, one out” deal is costing about £56,000 for every person sent back to France, Shabana Mahmood has told MPs.

The home secretary disclosed the figure as she was questioned by the home affairs select committee over whether the scheme was delivering value for taxpayers.

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UK paying £56,000 for each person returned to France under ‘one in one out’ scheme

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Home secretary defends cost, saying it is about the same or cheaper than putting someone up in a hotel for a year

The government’s “one in, one out” deal is costing about £56,000 for every person sent back to France, Shabana Mahmood has told MPs.

The home secretary disclosed the figure as she was questioned by the home affairs select committee over whether the scheme was delivering value for taxpayers.

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UK paying £56,000 for each person returned to France under ‘one in one out’ scheme

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Home secretary defends cost, saying it is about the same or cheaper than putting someone up in a hotel for a year

The government’s “one in, one out” deal is costing about £56,000 for every person sent back to France, Shabana Mahmood has told MPs.

The home secretary disclosed the figure as she was questioned by the home affairs select committee over whether the scheme was delivering value for taxpayers.

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UK paying £56,000 for each person returned to France under ‘one in one out’ scheme

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Home secretary defends cost, saying it is about the same or cheaper than putting someone up in a hotel for a year

The government’s “one in, one out” deal is costing about £56,000 for every person sent back to France, Shabana Mahmood has told MPs.

The home secretary disclosed the figure as she was questioned by the home affairs select committee over whether the scheme was delivering value for taxpayers.

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Existing care workers could be exempt from UK’s tough new immigration rules

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Exclusive: Andy Burnham thought to be considering waiving stricter right to remain rules for people already working in the sector

Hundreds of thousands of care workers could be exempted from the home secretary’s plans to toughen up the immigration system under proposals being considered by Andy Burnham as he looks for ways to relieve pressure on the social care sector.

The prime minister will give a speech next week spelling out his determination to start creating a National Care Service before the next general election as he looks to accelerate the process set up by his predecessor, Keir Starmer.

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Andy Burnham’s first Labour cabinet: who’s in and who’s out?

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From the Treasury to the Home Office, we look at who is heading up key departments in new PM’s government

Andy Burnham has appointed his first cabinet, with the new prime minister rewarding those who have been loyal to his takeover efforts. He had promised to pick his top team from all wings of the party in an effort to show he is trying to run a more inclusive administration.

But at the same time, his decision to have a brutal clearout of Starmer allies resulted in many considered to be on the right of the party or close to the former prime minister losing their jobs. These are the key announcements so far:

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Andy Burnham vows to ‘bring back hope’ as he unveils his cabinet

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New prime minister says government must ‘do better’ to deliver change but promises prudent approach to economy

Andy Burnham has said his arrival in power will “bring back hope” to Britain as he launched his premiership with the surprise appointment of John Healey as chancellor and a promise to repair the damage caused to communities during the Thatcher era.

The new UK prime minister acknowledged people were “fed up” with politics as he addressed the country after taking over from Keir Starmer in Downing Street, saying the government needed to “do better” to deliver real change.

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Burnham’s vow to end Labour briefing wars will test his grip on the party

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Tensions between his aims are already there, including disputes over key appointments such as chancellor

Andy Burnham’s vision for cleaning up Westminster politics is a utopian one: ending the dominance of the whipping system, Whitehall power hoarding and the “insidious briefing culture” of the bubble.

In his first speech on becoming Labour leader, he warned his party it “won’t beat Britain’s new right if we are consumed by infighting and pulling in different directions”.

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Immigration bill amend will allow removal of Rochdale gang leader

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Andy Burnham expected to vote in favour of home secretary’s changes to legal loophole and asylum system

The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, will amend the immigration bill to allow the deportation of the Rochdale grooming gang, the first step in removing Shabir Ahmed from the UK.

At present, Ahmed cannot be deported because of a 1971 law applying to Commonwealth citizens who arrived in the UK more than 50 years ago.

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