Shabana Mahmood: Getting Tough on Migrants?

You may recall another article I wrote where the British Labour government was following Denmark's way of dealing with illegal migrants/immigrants. Mette Frederiksen, the Danish PM, was facing the same problem that Sir Keir Starmer is facing now. That is, right-wing parties were accusing the Danish government, the equivalent of the British Labour Party, of doing little or nothing to stop the flow of foreigners into Denmark. So what did she do? Ms. Frederiksen came down hard on migrants seeking asylum in Denmark. She enacted policies that deterred migrants from coming to Denmark. Deportations and other anti migrant policies got results in real time. This took the wind out of the sails of her political opponents.

The UK has achieved some results, according to the Home Office. A source said 49,560 foreign nationals with no business to be here had been removed to whence they came from. Sounds pretty good, huh? Conversely, 39,075 migrants have crossed the Channel. Like Yin and Yang, there is balance in the universe; for every bit of good news, there is bad. So Labour can trumpet the number of illegals they have removed. At the same time, the good news is balanced with the bad news over the number of migrants crossing the English Channel.

With the Danish model of how to deal with foreigners ringing in her head, Shabana Mahmood is to announce on Monday a raft of measures to deal with the UK's migration problem. Britain is often seen by migrants as a land flowing with milk and honey. Akin to Dick Whittington (who actually existed), who was told the streets of London were paved with gold. They think that Britain, compared to places like Denmark, is a soft touch on foreigners. And let's face it, the migrants are not wrong in thinking that in some ways.

Ms. Mahmood has said she wants to end the idea of Britain being a welcoming place to illegals. She is expected to announce that she will do more to stop the "pull factors" that attract migrants here. She is considering changes to the human rights law, which often favours migrants' reasons for staying here. It's not so much legal migrants that come here she wants to tackle, but illegal ones.

Protests have taken place outside hotels where migrants are being housed. Many migrants have committed crimes here. Ms. Mahmood wants to tackle foreign criminals. She says that systemic barriers have made deportation extremely difficult in an article in The Times. She also wants to make it so that judges, when overseeing appeals against deportation, prioritise public safety rather than the wishes of the migrant bringing the appeal. The reason why many deportations do not go ahead or are delayed is that many migrants say they have a right to life here in the UK. These unscrupulous lawyers representing migrants under threat of deportation use the Human Rights Act as a way of stopping the deportation or delaying it forever. This is why Ms. Mahmood wants to review it and set it right.

Ms. Mahmmod will also look afresh at the European Convention on Human Rights. To see what she can do to stop abuses of the system, which give loopholes legally for migrants to overturn deportations. One area the government have been tackling, or so they say, is illegal migrants being employed under the radar. To send back those who have no right to be here, and also stop their exploitation. Bringing those to justice, people who exploit these people, who are often foreigners themselves.

Lately, you see Turkish and Kurdish barber shops opening up. Often these shops are just fronts for criminality. As are other businesses run by foreigners. Presumably, Ms. Mahmood will be tackling such things in her raft of measures.

The question has to be posed, though, are these just knee-jerk reactions because Reform UK are way ahead of Labour in the polls? Or are they genuine efforts to tackle illegal migration and make the UK a not very welcoming place for illegals, as is the case with Denmark?