Leaving compassion behind to be Home Secretary
JVL Introduction
The latest proposals from the Home Secretary will make things even worse for those seeking asylum and the right to remain in the UK. Like Starmer Shabana Mahmood shows a complete inability to learn any lessons from their rejection at the Gorton and Denton by-election but rather continues to focus on the Reform Party’s ideas and to echo Trump’s rhetoric on refugees and migrants. In Thursday’s speech she referred to Zack Polanski who provided a faultless response to her attack in which he reminded her that we are talking about people’s lives as well as correcting her errors regarding time he spent in Calais. He went on to remind her of the need for compassion and cited her own words after spending time in Lesbos in 2015, which included:
“We have to work with our European partners and create new, safe and legal routes for refugees to get to Europe. We cannot abandon them to their fate, left as prey for smugglers whilst risking death on the seas.” (the full letter is at the end of the article below)
Many Labour MPs are disturbed by her proposals and not only those on the left: Stella Creasy said:
“Ukrainians, Iranians [and] Afghans alike will all now live in a perpetual state of limbo, not able to plan any kind of life either here or in their home nation because they can’t guarantee their status, making them easier to exploit too. I look forward to reading the NAO [National Audit Office] report and the inevitable Windrush-style scandal coming that none of us stood on a manifesto to implement.”
We hope that it can be stopped before there is another such scandal and more desperate people endure greater uncertainty and are turned back into danger.
LL
This article was originally published by The Guardian on Thu 5 Mar 2026. Read the original here.
Shabana Mahmood accused of mimicking Trump as she announces asylum plans
Home secretary’s proposals to overhaul immigration system include end to permanent refugee
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One of the reasons so many mistrust, even despise, politicians is the ease with which so many of them eventually turn away from the ideals that gave them a platform in politics because their own careers have become more important to them than working to put those ideals into practise. Shabana Mahmood would seem to belong in that category. We increasingly live in a world of realpolitik, and that is disturbing. It may explain, at least in part, where the huge disillusionment with the Labour Party comes from.
how on earth did she become a member of Labour party I ask. Ok it’s Starmer’s so called Labour party. nevertheless why she seems devoid of any sort of compassion
Wow! It’s a surprise and a shock to hear of the change in the Home Sec. It gives truth to the old saying that there’s none so fervent as a convert. And I suppose the same could apply to her boss.