Tories Vow to Scuttle Labour's New Asylum Routes

The Conservative Party has pledged to "immediately" close down new asylum routes proposed by the Labour Party for Afghans and Palestinians should they win the next general election. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp stated that the scheme should not be considered while illegal immigration is considered "rife."

Last week, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced the plan for "safe routes," which would largely focus on Palestinians and Afghan women and girls, asserting it would "unlock the inherent generosity of this country."

However, Philp is expected to announce in his speech at the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday, "While illegal migration is rife, the government should not be opening our borders even more – and we would close this scheme down immediately."

Philp also outlined plans for a new removals force aimed at deporting 150,000 failed asylum seekers, foreign criminals, and visa overstayers annually. He indicated that over the course of the next parliamentary term, this unit would use expanded removal powers to expel three-quarters of a million foreign nationals without legal status in the UK. "So the priority would be those people arriving illegally by small boat. They would have to go straight away and that would have a deterrent effect," he said.

In his speech, Philp plans to criticize Labour's proposal to extend the waiting period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for migrants, suggesting the government will weaken these reforms under pressure from within the party. He is expected to state, "As Home Secretary I would put the rights of our citizens first. Shabana Mahmood won’t do that. She spent the last year claiming to be tough. But under pressure from Angela Rayner and open borders Labour MPs she now plans to emasculate her own ILR reforms. This will mean hundreds of thousands of low-wage or no wage migrants will stay forever – costing taxpayers billions. Shabana has surrendered."

Mahmood had previously argued that extending the ILR waiting period was necessary to manage the financial implications of migrants who arrived following the post-Covid immigration surge becoming eligible for ILR. Starting next year, two million migrants could claim a wider range of benefits upon successfully obtaining ILR. However, some Labour MPs had voiced opposition to changing the rules for migrants already in the UK, with some signing an open letter against the proposals in February.

Furthermore, Philp is set to condemn a police "anti-racism commitment" that suggests differential treatment based on race. He will reference a National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC) document stating that 'racial equity' does not equate to "treating everyone the same or being colour blind." Philp plans to assert that this policy "expressly says police should treat different ethnic groups differently to artificially engineer the same arrest rates." He is expected to call this "literally racist" and pledge its scrapping under a Conservative government. The Shadow Home Secretary is also anticipated to mock the Reform UK party, with a planned jab at its leaders.