“Shabana’s measures” against immigrants raise great alarm within the British Labor Party

On September 30, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed Labor Party members at the Liverpool Conference, calling on them to wage a battle “for the soul of the country” against the enemy represented by the right-wing populist British Reform Party led by Nigel Farage.

The Prime Minister announced decisions that “may not always be comfortable for members,” referring to the issue that is currently tearing the British left apart: controlling illegal immigration. On that day alone, 531 other people arrived on the English coast after crossing the Channel.

The set of new measures announced by Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood last week caused great concern among many Labor MPs. Among other things, these measures propose increasing the waiting period for permanent residence in the United Kingdom from five years to 20 years, a review every 30 months of the status of all asylum seekers, with the possibility of returning them to their country of origin if the government believes that the risk there has passed, and the option to deport children born in the United Kingdom with their parents.

As many as 20 members of Parliament expressed strong criticism of these measures, using terms such as “cruelty” or “disgust,” and accused the government of imitating the fascist rhetoric of the far right.

Labor politician Alf Dobbs, who now holds a seat in the House of Lords, said in an interview with El Pais newspaper: “I find it disappointing and frustrating that the government has taken such a tough stance, especially since children may be among the victims.”

He continued: “I don’t think that is necessary.” We will not defeat the Islah Party by trying to be as extremist as them, they will always outperform us. “What we should do is stay true to some basic principles such as the Geneva Convention, or the European Convention on Human Rights.”

Labor politician Alf Dobbs was one of many Jewish children who arrived in the UK from what was then Czechoslovakia in an operation known as “child transport”, which saved them from the threat of the Nazis. Dobbs devoted a large part of his life to defending and supporting refugees.

The Labor politician says: “Spain has proven that there is a way to move forward on this issue without resorting to all these hysterical policies,” explaining: “Far-right parties across Europe are exploiting the refugee issue to gain votes. “We see it in Hungary, Slovakia, Italy, Germany, France, and now it has reached the UK.” Dobbs added: “Of course we have to be strict when it comes to fighting the mafia that traffickers in immigrants, but we must adhere to basic legal principles.”

Dobbs sees the idea of ​​deporting people who have been living in Britain for nearly 20 years as belonging to another era, saying: “How can societal integration be achieved in this way?” What do we do with the children born here? Should we deport them with their parents? “All these dilemmas are unacceptable.”

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood is of Pakistani origin, and her parents were also illegal immigrants when they arrived in the United Kingdom and settled in Birmingham.

The Starmer government believes that its background and strong, assertive rhetoric can be a shield against internal criticism of the government’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Mahmoud herself, who has been the target of numerous racist insults throughout her life, presented the new measures as a “moral mission” for her and the Labor Party, to stop the current divisions in the country.

For his part, Mihnia Kuips, an analyst and researcher at the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, one of the most reliable and accurate sources for analyzing and presenting statistics on this phenomenon in the United Kingdom, explains: “Is this an issue that divides the country? “If you look at all the polls, the answer is yes.” Kuips continued: “Immigration is the issue that raises the greatest concern, and opinions on it are very different, and it is something that will not disappear from public debate overnight, so it was necessary for the Labor government to try to formulate a response to this.” About “El Pais”