Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Abtisam Mohamed

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

As the right hon. Gentleman is well aware, it is long-standing policy not to comment on individual cases. He often brings such individual cases to the Dispatch Box, so he should know that we cannot always go into all the specifics. He knows that all individuals who seek entry to the United Kingdom must meet the requirements of the immigration rules, and I will always enforce them as strongly as possible.

[Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

T2. For over 12 months, academics, health workers and care workers in my constituency have been raising concerns with me about the insecurity created by proposals to treble the standard qualifying period for ILR. Can we really call our system fair when people who came here under one set of rules now face a retrospective change to the terms on which they have built their lives? Will the Minister provide clarity on these proposals and give the people affected the certainty they deserve?

Asylum Policy

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Abtisam Mohamed

Monday 17th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

I should not be surprised to see the hon. Gentleman indulging in misinformation. In my statement I gave the example of somebody who has £800 a month from their family, has enough money to acquire an Audi and is not expected to contribute to the cost of his asylum support at all. It is right that we change that. British citizens have to give account of their assets before they access benefit support. I do not think that the individuals we are talking about should be in a privileged position if they have such access to money, or assets of high value. I made it clear that this is not about taking jewellery—wedding rings and so on—off people at the border; that will never happen, but it is right that those who have assets be asked to contribute to the cost of their asylum accommodation.

[Abtisam Mohamed (Sheffield Central) (Lab)]

Under the previous Government, we had hostile policy after hostile policy, from the “go home” vans to the Windrush scandal and Rwanda, all of which failed to deter people from making dangerous crossings and failed to fix the asylum system. What is dividing communities is the constant anti-refugee rhetoric pumped into our politics. That has resulted in the vile racism that the Home Secretary, I and my mother have been subjected to. Let us be clear: some people will never be appeased, and will constantly stir up hatred in our communities.

The new proposals that will force refugees to reapply every two years will just add huge costs and pressure to an already overstretched system. Has the Home Secretary assessed the cost to the Home Office of processing thousands of repeated applications? This is an area of law in which I used to practise. How that will impact an already overstretched system facing huge backlogs?

[Shabana Mahmood]

What I think is dividing our country, and communities all over it, is an unfair, out-of-control system that is putting pressure on communities across the whole nation. It is incumbent on me as Home Secretary and on this Government to fix that system, and to retain public consent for having an asylum system. It is also my job to make sure that we have the administration capacity and the funding to enact these reforms, which we will.