Overview
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood outlined plans to cut recognized refugee status to 30 months with periodic review and potential return if a country of origin is later deemed safe.
- The route to permanent residence would be stretched to roughly 20 years, replacing today’s five‑year path to indefinite leave to remain.
- Accommodation and financial support for asylum seekers would become discretionary, with possible denial for people judged able to work, those with assets, or those who commit crimes or work illegally, even as UK rules tightly restrict asylum seekers’ right to work.
- Mahmood billed the package as the most sweeping modern effort to tackle irregular migration, with media noting parallels to Denmark’s deterrence‑focused approach.
- NGOs and Labour’s progressive wing denounced the move on rights grounds while Conservatives and Reform UK labeled it insufficient, and the government plans to present the legislation to MPs at the start of the week as small‑boat arrivals in 2025 are reported at about 39,000.