'We must recognise the asylum system must change' - Sheffield MP Clive Betts backs Home Secretary's reforms
A local MP has backed the Home Secretary’s recently announced asylum reforms, despite contention among backbenchers.
Sheffield East MP Clive Betts has backed his party as he voices support for Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s recently announced asylum system reforms.
Ms Mahmood announced on Monday (November 17) that the government would overhaul its asylum system, and make it easier to remove people with no right to be in the country.
She told MPs it was the ‘uncomfortable truth’ that the UK's generous asylum offer, compared with other European countries, is drawing people to UK shores, and for British taxpayers the system ‘feels out of control and unfair’.
The Conservative Party and Reform UK welcomed the announcement, but it led to Labour MPs accusing their own party of trying to ‘triangulate’ with Nigel Farage's party.
MP Clive Betts has however said that he ‘welcome[s] the Home Secretary’s announcement’ despite reservations about its implementations.
He added: “I will not pretend that this is an easy topic, and one that is incredibly emotionally charged, however we must recognise that the asylum system must change.
“First and foremost, asylum is about fleeing from persecution and death. Those who have travelled from safe countries should be returned, regardless of who they are. Allowing them to stay is not in the spirit of what claiming asylum is. It also follows that people should return to their country if it becomes safe to do so.
“It is also hard to disagree that for those that do have the means to pay for their accommodation and food should do so. The same goes for endless appeals that slow down the process as well and compound the long waits and processing times. Allowing cases to run and run helps no one, slows down other deserving cases, and costs significant time and money.
“To accompany these changes the government will introduce safe and legal routes to the UK to reduce dangerous crossings in small boats. These will be capped but allow those that need to seek safety a safe way to do so.
“There are specific concerns I do have which I am raising with the government over implementation, but if we are serious about governing, we need to recognise that this is an area that needs fundamental reform, and I am glad the government is doing so.”
In her new reforms, Ms Mahmood proposes make refugee status temporary - forcing people to return to their native countries once they are deemed safe - and seize the assets of those fleeing from conflict as they enter the country, to pay for housing and support.
New technologies, including trials of AI-driven systems, will also be used to strengthen enforcement and verify the age of people claiming to be children.
The proposals continue to divide left want voters, with local groups like Sheffield Stand Up to Racism blasting the plans, calling them ‘cruel’ and say it continues to ‘normalise the politics of the far right’.
They are planning a protest tomorrow (November 22) to stand up against the proposals - which they say ‘echoes the demands and rhetoric’ of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Meanwhile, Mr Bett’s colleague in the Labour government, Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake, accused the Home Secretary of stoking division by saying refugees ‘have won a golden ticket’ if they get the status in the country after fleeing ‘violence, war and persecution’.
Ms Blake said: "Does she accept that shutting down routes for settlement will damage integration in our communities and will only strengthen Reform, not beat them?"