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Andy Burnham has backed the government’s controversial asylum changes, voting for legislation that has divided Labour MPs over plans to tighten the immigration system and reshape the appeals process.
The prime minister-in-waiting and Labour MP for Makerfield supported the immigration and asylum bill at its second reading in the House of Commons on Monday evening, despite a rebellion by ۱۴ Labour MPs.
The legislation passed by ۲۶۴ votes to ۹۰.
The bill is intended to reduce the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats while shifting the UK’s asylum system towards expanded “safe and legal routes”. It would tighten the application of article ۸ of the European convention on human rights, which protects the right to private and family life, in an effort to reduce the number of successful asylum appeals.
The legislation would also replace immigration judges with a new system of independent adjudicators to hear appeals, a move ministers say will speed up decision-making and reduce backlogs.
The vote came after the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, announced further amendments to the bill, including plans to remove a legal protection preventing the deportation of some long-term Commonwealth citizens convicted of serious crimes, such as the leader of the Rochdale grooming gang.
Opening the debate, Mahmood said the changes were necessary to restore public confidence in the asylum system while preserving Britain’s commitment to those fleeing war and persecution.
She said: “This country has always provided sanctuary to those fleeing war and persecution and I’m proud of that fact. But we must accept that public consent for our asylum system is fraying.”
She said Labour had increased arrests of people smugglers by ۵۵% since taking office, while asylum decisions were at a ۲۴-year high and removals at their highest level in almost a decade. The government also said the number of people housed in asylum hotels had fallen by almost ۳۰%.
The proposals, however, prompted criticism from Labour backbenchers, who argued the measures risked creating a more restrictive and expensive asylum system.
Nadia Whittome, the Labour MP for Nottingham East, voted against the bill, saying there was “little evidence” it would solve the problems it claimed to address. Stella Creasy questioned plans to reassess refugees’ status every ۳۰ months under a new “core protection” route, describing it as a “Diet Coke version of refugee status”. Tony Vaughan, the Labour MP for Folkestone and Hythe, warned that poor Home Office decision-making, rather than the tribunal system, was driving the volume of appeals.
The Conservatives also opposed the bill, arguing it did not go far enough. The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, said leaving the European convention on human rights remained necessary to curb irregular migration, but his amendment to the legislation was defeated.
