New Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she will seek to suspend visas for citizens of countries that refuse to accept the return of their nationals, and that the United Kingdom has been discussing coordinated action with other Five Eyes intelligence partners.
Mahmood made the comments during a meeting of Five Eyes ministers in London on Monday, where representatives from the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand attended to discuss migration and border co-operation. "For countries that do not play ball, we've been talking about how we can take much more co-ordinated action between the Five Eyes countries," she said. "For us, that means including possibly the cutting of visas in the future, just to say we do expect countries to play ball, play by the rules."
Mahmood said the measure would be aimed at countries that do not cooperate with deportations from the UK, and that ministers were exploring how to coordinate similar steps across the Five Eyes grouping. She described the policy as part of a broader effort to reduce unauthorised cross-Channel small-boat crossings and to ensure that UK immigration laws could be enforced.
The powers Mahmood referenced were created under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, introduced by then-Conservative home secretary Priti Patel. That legislation includes a "visa penalty provision" allowing the home secretary to impose visa restrictions if a foreign government is not cooperating with returns of its nationals from the United Kingdom.
Exact details of how the UK intends to use the provision — whether unilaterally or through a reciprocal Five Eyes arrangement that would affect third-country nationals' access to all member states — have not been announced. Mahmood said the idea was an "interesting space for collaboration," but provided no timetable for implementation.
The announcement comes amid a rise in small-boat crossings in the English Channel. UK government figures show more than 30,000 people have crossed so far this year, including 1,097 on Saturday, an increase of about 37% compared with the same point last year.
The Labour government has faced pressure to find accommodation and processing capacity as arrivals have increased. Defence Minister Luke Pollard said the Ministry of Defence is reviewing military sites as part of a renewed effort to close hotels used to house asylum seekers. Pollard specifically said previously considered plans to use the disused RAF Scampton base in Lincolnshire, once the subject of nearly £50 million in preparatory spending under the Conservatives, were being re-examined.
"The Home Office has looked at accommodation, has decided against accommodation that the Ministry of Defence offered in the past. But we’re looking at all of them again at the moment," Pollard said, adding that the MoD was reviewing all available sites. The Labour government cancelled plans to convert Scampton into an asylum centre in September 2024, saying the project did not offer value for money.
The migration issue also prompted a recent ministerial reshuffle. Yvette Cooper, who previously held the Home Office brief, was moved to become foreign secretary last week after failing to halt the rise in small-boat arrivals, according to government sources.
Five Eyes attendees at Monday's meeting in central London included U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem, Canada's Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, Australia's Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and New Zealand's Attorney General Judith Collins. The talks focused on border security cooperation, returns and the mechanics of joint measures such as visa restrictions.
Home Office officials cautioned that any use of the visa penalty provision would follow legal and diplomatic processes and could involve negotiation with affected countries. Officials also noted that the 2022 law requires demonstration of non-cooperation on returns as a condition for imposing penalties.
Ministers said further details of proposals will be published after internal government discussions and consultations with international partners. In the meantime, the government said it will continue to pursue measures aimed at reducing irregular migration across the Channel and improving the enforcement of immigration rules.