Britain to Suspend Visas for Countries Failing to Take Back Illegal Migrants, Says Mahmood
The UK will suspend visas from countries that refuse to “play ball” on taking back illegal migrants and foreign criminals, new Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said. The Telegraph has more.
The new Home Secretary said the UK was prepared to “cut visas” for workers, students and visitors if their countries did not “play by the rules” and take back citizens who “have no right to be in our country”.
Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Ethiopia were previously identified as failing to take back enough of their citizens whose applications for asylum in Britain have been rejected. However, Ms Mahmood did not name specific countries.
The new approach brings Labour into line with the Tories and Reform UK, which have adopted similar policies. It was agreed by the Five Eyes security alliance of the UK, US, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, whose interior ministers were in London to meet Ms Mahmood.
The Home Secretary said she would go “further and faster” than Yvette Cooper, her predecessor, in tackling the migration crisis, saying she would “do whatever it takes” and was “not the sort of person that hangs around”.
It comes after the number of migrants crossing the Channel this year topped 30,000 in record time. Some 1,097 migrants crossed on Saturday, the highest daily number for four months, bringing the total for 2025 to 30,100.
Ms Mahmood held talks with Kristi Noem, the US Secretary of Homeland Security, who oversees the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency.
Ms Noem has been involved in the Trump administration’s efforts to increase deportations.
Three days after Ms Mahmood took up her post in the reshuffle prompted by Angela Rayner’s resignation, she backed issuing national ID cards to tackle illegal migration, stopping short of saying they would be mandatory.
She also ruled herself out of standing for deputy Labour leader in the contest sparked by Angela Rayner’s resignation. …
The Government already has the power to cut visas to countries that refuse to do returns deals as part of the Nationality and Borders Act, introduced by Priti Patel, the former home secretary, and Chris Philp, now the Shadow Home Secretary, when he served as immigration minister.
Worth reading in full.
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Don’t panic, she’ll just change the definition to make all the illegals into legals, so they can all carry on staying.
It sounds like they needed a law to allow them to do this? Did they not have the authority to set policy over who can visit the UK and for how long? I understand that some countries already have treaties with the UK (eg Ireland and the common travel area) which might need some finesse but Iraq? Afghanistan? WTAF?
This cannot and will not make any bloody difference. Iraq, Somalia, Afghanistan and Ethiopia, countries from which we obtain huge numbers of doctors and engineers… taking the pish as usual.
Given that the above countries probably supply well over 50% of our influx of illegals and probably none of the “legals” this will make a difference of exactly F. all.
Lies, lies, lies.
I thought the main problem with illegals is that they have no papers and won’t say where they are from so how is this going to work? If this has any impact I will but everyone a box of Smarties – but I think my money is safe. Is there anyone thick enough to believe this?
And to a point I’ve seen you make previously, illegals are actually a small proportion of migrants to the UK.
The vast majority is legal.
So basically, this is a brilliant scheme to deal with a small percentage of a small proportion of the immigration into the UK. And even then, it’ll probably be challenged in the courts and go nowhere.
It sounds totally badass, though. This new Home Secretary, she’s a real tough one….
I do find it frustrating that so much coverage is given to illegals and the wider issues are not discussed as they should be.
I think it’s a myth that the majority of illegals destroy their papers. They know that the doesn’t have a return agreement with a lot of countries so they can be quite open about where they’ve come from as there’s no risk of them being sent back. The only people who would gain from destroying their papers are people from safe countries so they can then claim they’re from a country such as Somalia or Afghanistan and be far more likely to be given asylum. The solution is for everyone claiming asylum to have to be interviewed about the country they claim to be from in the language of that country
Exactly! Why would they need a visa when they can simply secure a seat on a blow-up rubber dinghy, invade our shores – ably assisted by the RNLI – and be housed, wined and dined at our expense?
Visas are over-rated – and useless – commodities it would seem.
This will make sod all difference I think… but I do detect the recent ‘raising the flag’ efforts have clearly rattled 2TK and his team… they are at least making some noises now (but will do bugger all of course)
But, but, but… the ECHR, weren’t we bound by this international treaty to take anyone who claims to be a refugee, shut up and put up with it?
I predict in no time some “human rights” organisation – i.e. some dodgy NGO dedicated to destroying western society and establishing world government – will make a legal challenge to this and the scheme, which is probably just some clever ruse to shut the plebs up for a while, will quickly be shelved.
Does anyone want to give me some odds?
Seeing Leftist Pakistani Muslim Mahmood smirking away with American Patriot Kirsty Noem is just appalling, and even worse is Mahmood’s meeting with the Five Eyes Security Alliance. They may as well throw the whole concept of “security” out the window. Reform party MP Lee Anderson tried to warn everyone about the “devout” Pakistani Muslim Mahmood in 2023, when he discovered this: Lee Anderson fury over Starmer pick for justice who helped keep foreign rapists in the UK | Politics | News | Express.co.uk “Lee Anderson has told Express.co.uk that the idea of the Labour party being in charge of justice “sends a chill down his spine” after revelations that Sir Keir Starmer’s new shadow Justice Secretary LED THE PUSH TO STOP FOREIGN MURDERERS, RAPISTS and CHILD SEX OFFENDERS BEING DEPORTED.” He said: “Wow….Remember the letter signed by dozens of Labour MPs that helped stop a flight full of rapists, murderers, child sex offenders and violent men going to Jamaica? “I thought you may. You might also recall that one of the men who was on that flight went on to murder in the UK. Well it looks like one of the ringleaders has now been made Shadow Justice Secretary. This… Read more »
I thought I recognised Noem. I had sort of forgotten she is no longer Governor of South Dakota. She must have had to hold her nose a bit for that meeting. She shoots things.
Yes, it’s wonderful to see news clips of her riding out on horseback with the US Border Patrol, as no other politician has ever done, or at least no woman, as far as I know.
I don’t blame her for shooting her dog— she explained her reasons clearly in an excerpt from her autobiographical account, as reported in the news. British Farmers shoot dogs for attacking sheep, as is only right and fair.
It’s only a pity that she felt the need to completely change her natural blonde Norwegian hair to dark, but that’s up to her. What a contrast she makes next to Turnip Legs Mahmood.
Apart from the dog, I believe she hunts. I can’t imagine she found much in common with Mahmood. Of course her state was one of the few not to have any lockdowns. I remember one of her tweets, along the lines of “If you’re worried about covid, stay home, wear a mask, get vaccinated – but we’re not going to mandate anything”.
Yes, her stance on the lockdowns and masks was admirably bold and courageous, when so many other politicians were cravenly submitting.
See how all these things are viewed as “triumphs” in the Islamic world:
Muslim Heritage Month
Timeline of Muslims taking top positions in the UK
So they want to send someone back to Somalia, but they also want to bring in the relatives of lots of other Somalians who can’t be sent back because of some judge’s ruling about family life. Blocking the visas from that country prevents these rellies coming, thus (according to another judge) breaching the ECHR. Visa blocking law is therefore overturned.
Nice one. More lies & tricks & sleight-of-hand by the Globalists.
I’ll believe that when I see it!
I have just listened to her being interviewed.
I think the headline is over-optimistic.
There were many “may, might, will consider,” etc., caveats.
I will be staggered if it happens.
And if the country of origin isn’t, y’ know, known?
All such pantomime.
The big immigration problem is that all the knuckle-dragging Third World scum the idiot Johnson let in are approaching the point at which they qualify for leave to remain and bring in 2 million family hangers on to suck on the teat of our taxpayer funded benefits. Anyone who thinks the Lying Oaf Johnson should ever be allowed near power again needs their head examining or are thinking with what’s between their legs as Dorries longs to be a notch on his conquests post.
The UK being ‘prepared’ to suspend visas is just ‘preparation’. Just as ‘might’ = ‘might not’; ‘may’ = ‘may not’; ‘could’ = ‘could not’.
This policy was originally put forward by Reform. It’s great to see Reform setting the agenda in British politics. Whether the government will follow through is another matter.
Notice the renewed attempt to sell “national id cards” (by which they mean universal digital id), despite the fact that this has absolutely nothing to do with the asylum issue or controlling immigration.