11 – 25 November 2025
Collective shock has greeted the ‘toughest’immigration controls in Europe, drawn up by home secretary Shabana Mahmood, which further hardwire hostility towards asylum seekers and (low-paid) migrant workers into state policy. Mahmood’s justification of this horrendous development ignores the lessons of over fifty years’ campaigning around race and immigration issues. Her argument that asylum and migration reforms are necessary because ‘the pace and scale of migration’ are fuelling a ‘vision of a Greater Britain [that] is giving way to that of a Littler England, as anger turns to hate’ turns the clock back to the 1960s, only then, the bipartisan mantra that ‘fewer numbers make for better race relations’ was used against Black and Brown former colonial subjects.
Labour’s proposals are based on false claims and dodgy statistics, and continue the ‘punching down’ approach to government, which the Starmer administration started by taking benefits from the elderly and disabled. For refugees, rolling grants of 30 months, with deportation once the home country is deemed ‘safe’, mean being kept in limbo, with prolonged separation from family, and constant apprehension of forced return, for 20 or even 30 years. Asylum seekers will face the prospect of being denied all support, for ‘non-compliance’ or disobedience; having jewellery snatched to pay for their upkeep (involving who knows what intrusive searches), and an appeal system designed to get them out as quickly as possible. Low-paid workers, in particular health and care workers, will face at least 15 years on rolling 30-month visas (a lot longer if they have claimed any benefits) for the possibility of settlement – and benefits and social housing will be for British citizens only. These are the conditions in which refugees and migrants are being told they must ‘integrate’.
Key workers – nursing assistants, transport workers, prison officers – already fear deportation for not earning enough after the recent income threshold rise. The loss of key workers will damage society and the economy. It is the divisive and dishonest narrative that paints asylum seekers, refugees and migrant workers as taking advantage, that tears the social fabric, and creates, in Mahmood’s words, a ‘Littler England’.
Anti-racists need to build on the revulsion and anger the proposals have evoked, joining with the protesting workers, trades unions, refugee and migrant groups and supporters to create a movement of resistance and an alternative vision based on human values.
It is a perverse morality that singles out the most vulnerable – asylum seekers, refugees and low-paid migrant workers – for the worst treatment, and a perverse patriotism that, in doing so, damages both the economy and society.
The cancellation of a children’s Christmas show because of online racist abuse, revealed in this week’s calendar, is an index of how deep the damage goes – and the Irish government’s proposals on migration and citizenship show how quickly it spreads. The calendar also reveals further alarming proposals on restricting protest rights, targeted at Palestine activists.