Alf Dubs calls Shabana Mahmood’s increased immigration stance “disappointing.”
A Labour Lord who was a refugee as a youngster criticises the Home Secretary’s handling of the defeat in the Gorton and Denton byelections.
Alf Dubs, a Labour peer, called the home secretary’s decision to intensify severe immigration policies in the wake of Labour’s byelection loss to the Green party “disappointing.”
Shabana Mahmood has previously been accused of “pulling up the drawbridge” on child refugees by Lord Dubs, a child refugee who escaped Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the Kindertransport in 1939.
On Thursday, Green councillor and plumber Hannah Spencer defeated a 13,000-vote advantage to win the once-safe Labour seat of Gorton and Denton in east Manchester. Angeliki Stogia, the Labour candidate, finished third, behind Matt Goodwin of Reform UK.
Labour has been charged with abandoning its left-leaning supporters by attempting to thwart the growth of Reform, especially in relation to immigration.
Zack Polanski, the leader of the Green party, has claimed that Labour is repeating “the rhetoric of the far right” with its proposed immigration policies, which are based on the strict Danish system.
On Friday, Mahmood said she will continue with the contentious policy in spite of the protests of numerous union leaders and backbench Labour MPs.
The largest overhaul of the asylum system in four decades is planned by the government. Those who enter the nation illegally will have to wait 20 years before they can petition for indefinite leave to stay, according to the proposals.
“The Greens are demonstrating that they are most likely in the correct position [on immigration] from a humanitarian standpoint,” Dubs stated. “Reform hasn’t performed as well as it had anticipated.”
Dubs, 93, stated that, given the humiliating byelection loss, he did not think Mahmood’s answer was “sensible.”
The Green party has suggested changes to the immigration system of its own, arguing that the government should create safer entry points for migrants and permit asylum seekers to work.
Many people believe that the Labour reforms were a response to the increase in support for reform. According to Nigel Farage, if his party were elected to power, it would deport roughly 600,000 migrants during its first term and do away with indefinite permission to remain.
“The fact that the Greens won and that they have a sensible policy on this should have a much greater impact on [Mahmood], and the Labour party should have a similarly sensible policy,” Dubs stated.
He went on to say that he was especially worried about the situation of child refugees, many of whom are impacted by last year’s decision to halt family reunion visas.
Adults who were given refugee status had the option to sponsor their spouse or partner and dependent children under the age of eighteen to join them until September.
In any case, he continued, “we should have a more humanitarian policy for refugees and asylum seekers, especially family reunion and children.”
“What [Mahmood] is saying disappoints me, and I hope she will change her mind and find a better solution.”
“If a child is abroad and has close family here with settled status, one of the top priorities should be family reunions for child refugees.” Children ought to be permitted to enter this country as asylum seekers.