The UK is preparing to scale back asylum-seekers’ access to financial assistance and make long-term settlement more difficult, as the government attempts to address voter concerns over rising immigration.
According to plans that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to outline on Monday, refugees would lose their legal entitlement to housing and state benefits, and their immigration status would be reassessed every 30 months. Individuals who enter the country without a permit would also be required to wait 20 years before seeking permanent residency, a significant increase from the current five-year period.
These steps are part of Labour’s effort to regain control of the immigration debate, which polling suggests is pushing voters toward Nigel Farage’s Reform UK Party. Nearly 40,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats this year, a pace that could make 2025 the busiest year since 2022 and challenge Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s commitments on border control.
Mahmood told Sky News that her priority is tackling illegal migration and preventing it from continuing to divide the public. She said the government must take action if it wants to maintain public support for the asylum system, NDTV reported.
The tougher measures come at a delicate political moment, as Keir Starmer struggles to maintain his grip on the Labour Party after a series of mistakes and reversals that, according to even his allies, have left his leadership looking vulnerable.
A stricter asylum regime along with harsher language on immigration is proving difficult to justify to the party’s left wing at a time when Starmer needs to consolidate internal backing.
The UK recorded 111,000 asylum applications in the year to June 2025, the highest on record and 14% more than the year before. Since Labour took office in July 2024, the Home Office has deported or removed nearly 50,000 people who were in the UK illegally, representing a 23% rise compared with the previous 16-month period.
The Home Office said the new proposals would also make it easier to return refugees once their home countries are deemed safe.
Mahmood said additional changes to legal migration will be unveiled later in the week. Her appointment was widely interpreted as evidence that Labour intended to adopt a more hard-line approach on immigration. She described her responsibilities as a “moral mission,” telling the BBC that illegal migration was causing a deep divide in the UK.
Starmer’s authority has been further shaken in recent days by anonymous briefings accusing a cabinet minister of trying to oust him. And on Friday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves abandoned the central element of her revenue-raising strategy, a move that prompted a bond-market selloff.
Mahmood told Sky News that Starmer had no reason to consider stepping down, emphasising that he had led Labour back to government after more than a decade in opposition.