Mahmood’s asylum bill to face parliamentary scrutiny amid rights concerns

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to introduce a comprehensive immigration and asylum bill to MPs next Tuesday, marking a significant shift in the UK’s approach to border control and judicial oversight. The legislation, which is expected to face opposition from Labour, Liberal Democrat, and independent MPs, aims to streamline the removal of refused asylum seekers and restructure the appeals process to sit firmly within the Home Office rather than the independent judiciary.

Central to the bill is the provision for the immediate forced removal of individuals who have exhausted all appeals. The Home Secretary has previously argued that the right to family life, protected under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, has been used to frustrate removals and undermine public confidence in the rule of law. The new legislation is expected to direct how Article 8 is applied in deportation cases, tightening the definition of family life and the public interest test to limit human rights applications.

The bill also introduces stringent measures regarding age assessments, including the potential use of artificial intelligence to estimate the age of asylum seekers claiming to be children. This provision has drawn sharp criticism from refugee charities, including Safe Passage International and the Refugee and Migrant Children’s Consortium. Organizations warn that such measures could lead to children being wrongly assessed as adults, exposing them to unsafe conditions in the adult asylum system and penalising those exploited outside the UK.

Structural changes to the asylum system are a key component of the proposal, with plans to drop the independent court system in favour of a new appeals body within the Home Office. Additionally, the modern slavery framework will be amended to prevent the late presentation of claims. While the bill does not currently include controversial changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain rules—previously opposed by Angela Rayner and over 100 Labour MPs—sources indicate these could be introduced via secondary legislation at a later date.

Political timing remains a point of contention, with Andy Burnham’s team understood to be aware of the bill’s contents as expectations grow that he will become Prime Minister within weeks. Refugee charity leaders have expressed concern that the Home Secretary is determined to push through these measures before a new prime minister is confirmed, urging the government to publish a child rights impact assessment and consider safe routes to protection rather than restrictive enforcement.