resigned from office<\/a> this week.<\/p>\nAsked if Mahmood should remain in post, Dubs told the Guardian: \u201cI think her talents would be better used elsewhere in cabinet to allow the new PM free rein to put his own stamp on asylum and immigration policy.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt a time when the party needs unity, I do not believe that Shabana Mahmood\u2019s policies represent the right approach.\u201d<\/p>\n
Shabana Mahmood. Photograph: Thomas Krych\/Zuma Press Wire\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Dubs, who has been described as \u201cthe conscience of the Labour movement\u201d, said: \u201cThis is Andy Burnham\u2019s opportunity to correct some of the mistakes that the Starmer government made as regards asylum seekers and refugees.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe proposed changes to indefinite leave to remain, for instance, which would apply retrospectively to people who came here in good faith and according to the rules, are simply unjust and should be reconsidered.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must stand firmly by our commitments under the 1951 refugee convention and the ECHR and not attempt to water them down which is what the current proposals threaten to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
A former Northern Ireland minister who helped draw up the Good Friday agreement, Dubs criticised Mahmood\u2019s decision to suspend family reunion visas. She is expected to unveil an asylum and immigration bill on Tuesday that will make it easier to place children in handcuffs prior to deportation, or to remove sick children.<\/p>\n
Dubs, 93, was transported to the UK through the Kindertransport train, which he subsequently discovered had been organised by the London-based stockbroker Sir Nicholas Winton.<\/p>\n
He said the proposed changes would leave children in his position \u201cout in the cold\u201d and unable to seek sanctuary in the UK.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs these proposals stand children like me arriving in the UK seeking sanctuary would be left out in the cold. Worse, they could be handcuffed and deported, even if they have family here ready and willing to care for them. Those are not British values and they are certainly not Labour values.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should be giving a high priority to family reunion to allow asylum-seeking children to join their families here. I believe the public would accept this and see it as a fair and compassionate approach,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Burnham\u2019s campaign in Makerfield had been \u201cpositive, community-focused and unifying\u201d, Dubs said. \u201cTo squander that optimism now would be a political mistake.\u201d<\/p>\n
He urged Burnham to support children and reassure the party\u2019s \u201ccore vote\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is Labour\u2019s reset moment when we can consign to the past some of the appalling language used by politicians to describe refugees: \u2018invaders\u2019, \u2018an island of strangers\u2019, \u2018tearing our country apart\u2019. We can\u2019t reset by bringing with us policies that many in the PLP do not support, spearheaded by a home secretary who divides opinion,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Labour should seek to control the UK\u2019s borders, but do so \u201cwithout cruelty\u201d, Dubs said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis control should also come with our commitment to basic rights, and compassion for those who are in time of greatest need. Not performative cruelty \u2013 like briefing the Home Office would start seizing refugees\u2019 jewellery at the border. Or using incendiary language to blame refugees for \u2018tearing our country apart\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must redouble our efforts to establish Europe-wide cooperation on asylum seekers and refugees. It is only by working with our partners that we can achieve an effective human-rights based policy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sources close to Mahmood said her policies were necessary to restore order and control at the UK\u2019s borders, which was consistent with Labour values. She has previously claimed that the UK risks losing popular consent for its asylum system without tough policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shabana Mahmood should be moved out of the Home Office and her asylum policies of \u201cperformative cruelty\u201d ripped…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":659403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[59,57,58,50,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-659402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-kingdom","tag-gb","tag-great-britain","tag-greatbritain","tag-news","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/659403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}