Labour peer Alf Dubs has called for Shabana Mahmood to be removed as home secretary and for her asylum policies to be scrapped by the incoming administration of Andy Burnham, describing the current approach as "performative cruelty."
Dubs criticizes Mahmood's policies
Dubs, who fled Nazi persecution as a child on the Kindertransport, said Mahmood's talents "would be better used elsewhere in the cabinet." He argued that Burnham, widely expected to become prime minister after Keir Starmer resigned, should champion "human rights, compassion, fairness and equality" while maintaining border control.
Mahmood has been in talks to exempt care workers from changes to indefinite leave to remain and is in a standoff with Starmer over immigration minister Mike Tapp. Dubs, 93, described the proposed changes as unjust, particularly retrospective application to those who arrived in good faith.
Concerns over children's treatment
Dubs criticized the suspension of family reunion visas and plans to make it easier to handcuff children before deportation. He said children like himself would be left "out in the cold" and unable to seek sanctuary. "Those are not British values and they are certainly not Labour values," he said.
He urged Burnham to support children and reassure the party's core vote, calling the election campaign "positive, community-focused and unifying." Dubs added: "To squander that optimism now would be a political mistake."
Call for humane border control
Dubs said Labour should control borders "without cruelty" and avoid incendiary language like "invaders" or "tearing our country apart." He called for Europe-wide cooperation on asylum based on human rights. Sources close to Mahmood defended her policies as necessary to restore order and maintain public consent for the asylum system.
