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Original poster

So who is going to be brave enough to ask whether Shabana Mahmood's proposed reforms are right/sensible/racist?

538 replies

Papyrophile · 16/11/2025 17:26

Is Shabana Mahmood right or wrong to restrict asylum seeker's rights? In general?

OP posts:
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Larryfell · 16/11/2025 19:59

She's entirely correct

Supersimkin7 · 16/11/2025 19:59

None of the proposed changes is racist, so there’s no argument,

HearMeOutt · 16/11/2025 19:57

Whistonia · 16/11/2025 19:56

Oh we are rich, well lots of people and companies are but others not so much - and the birth rate is decreasing

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The birth rate is decreasing but immigration is so high our net population has been increasing by half a million to a million a year. It’s madness. And we are not rich. We are in managed downward spiral with few options.

RowOfRunners · 16/11/2025 19:56

ExitPursuedByABare · 16/11/2025 17:36

I think it’s great. And so relieved it’s the Labour Party introducing it. The Tories would have had their arse handed to them on a plate.

It has to be Labour. Like it has to be Labour to get to get to grips with the NHS. There would have been civil war if the tories had dared.

Whistonia · 16/11/2025 19:56

HearMeOutt · 16/11/2025 19:46

We are not rich and we have no space.

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Oh we are rich, well lots of people and companies are but others not so much - and the birth rate is decreasing

Original poster
Papyrophile · 16/11/2025 19:53

IMO if a person is happy to return "home" on holiday, they no longer require refuge.

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BelatrixLestrange · 16/11/2025 19:52

Very sensible proposal for those who come here illegally.

Now to loosen the strings for those who want to come here with valuable skills and/or the will to work and contribute to the economy.

I have lost two excellent staff members in the last two years because they don't meet the strict "skilled workers" criteria the tories brought in. We need to fix that.

Zanatdy · 16/11/2025 19:51

Dollymylove · 16/11/2025 19:40

That's correct. Some of the "terrified" afghan interpreters have been going back for holidays.

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Not until they get citizenship as their travel documents excludes the country they’ve claimed asylum from. Not from the UK anyway.

GeneralPeter · 16/11/2025 19:51

The problem with this issue (and so many that divide people) is incentives.

If all asylum-seekers are genuine and worthy should we restrict their rights/privileges? Probably no.

If we want to ensure that asylum seekers are all genuine and worthy should we restrict their rights/privileges? Probably yes.

EasternStandard · 16/11/2025 19:50

Seymour5 · 16/11/2025 19:49

Not many children coming via the boats. Refugees used to be the vulnerable, elderly, children, women. Most young to middle aged men were the most likely, as in Ukraine, to remain in their home countries.

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If there’s no family reunification it’ll likely be younger men coming anyway.

Seymour5 · 16/11/2025 19:49

Thatstheheatingon · 16/11/2025 18:22

I don't think someone who has been granted asylum should have to live with the uncertainty of being sent back in a few years. To what exactly?
They can't settle into a community and children will be uprooted to a different education system if they have to return.

Not many children coming via the boats. Refugees used to be the vulnerable, elderly, children, women. Most young to middle aged men were the most likely, as in Ukraine, to remain in their home countries.

Original poster
Papyrophile · 16/11/2025 19:49

We are very densely populated already and I, for one, would vote against building over the green belt to build accommodation for asylum seekers.

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BeefFriedChips · 16/11/2025 19:47

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millymollymoomoo · 16/11/2025 19:47

@Whistonia no we’re not.

millymollymoomoo · 16/11/2025 19:46

100% right to restrict.

need to detain and deport

HearMeOutt · 16/11/2025 19:46

Whistonia · 16/11/2025 19:45

Are you saying the country cannot afford to help asylum seekers. We are a very rich country with wealth shared very unfairly.

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We are not rich and we have no space.

Whistonia · 16/11/2025 19:45

Chiseltip · 16/11/2025 17:35

If your (insert any foreign person) neighbour asked you for a tenner, and you genuinely couldn't afford to give it to them, because you didn't have enough money yourself. What would you say to someone who suggested that you were being racist when you refused to help them?

Are you saying the country cannot afford to help asylum seekers. We are a very rich country with wealth shared very unfairly.

BeefFriedChips · 16/11/2025 19:45

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Zanatdy · 16/11/2025 19:45

The concern is, with cuts expected via spending reviews on all Gov depts, is how on earth are they going to be able to regularly review each persons claim every few years? Unless it’s just purely a ‘how is the situation in x country right now’ and then that’s everyone reviewed. Only way to do it. Makes sense though if the situation changes in a country, why not say you can return. The reality is, I doubt many people will return.

What is needed, is faster processing of asylum claim, and swift removal of those who aren’t successful. With all the appeals / legal routes it’s pretty difficult to remove many people, and of course some will be back the following week.

BeefFriedChips · 16/11/2025 19:44

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Dollymylove · 16/11/2025 19:43

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SumUp · 16/11/2025 19:41

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marshmallowmix · 16/11/2025 19:41

We are being laughed at it’s an utter disgrace the state of the country.

The only way back is mass deportations..,tensions are at boiling point near me.

Dollymylove · 16/11/2025 19:40

Fuzzywoo · 16/11/2025 19:37

You do know that a lot of people granted asylum return to their homelands for holidays?

Surely, if you are granted asylum and then a few years later return for holidays in the place you said you were fleeing from, that place must now be safe to return to permanently?

This is my opinion as the descendant of legal immigrants who came to the UK at the request of the then post war government's.

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That's correct. Some of the "terrified" afghan interpreters have been going back for holidays.

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