Andy Burnham to Back Labour’s Trump-Inspired Immigration Crackdown

Andy Burnham will back home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s draconian immigration reforms, his allies have said.  

The Labour leadership hopeful and current mayor of Greater Manchester is keen to reframe the migration debate but will not seek to water down the government’s legislation, The Guardian reported on Wednesday.   

Burnham is currently facing a byelection battle in Makerfield after Josh Simons stepped down to open the seat for him. The ‘King of the North’ has already been called “open-borders Andy” by Reform UK. 

The news that Burnham will fail to challenge Mahmood’s immigration reforms drew sharp criticism from those on the Labour left, including Diane Abbott, the independent MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, who posted on X: “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

Earlier this year, Mahmood set out a package of immigration reforms which include an end to permanent refugee status.

Adults and accompanying children whose asylum claims are approved are now granted only a 30-month stay. A review then determines if they need continuing protection or if their home countries are deemed “safe” for them to return. 

The government also plans to increase the time required for indefinite leave to remain from five to ten years. For those deemed to have entered the country “illegally”, that period could be as long as 30 years.

The reforms were dubbed “un-British” by former deputy leader Angela Rayner, while Sarah Owen MP for Luton North and a key figure in the centre-left Tribune group, compared the deporting of children to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency’s detention of minors.

Burnham told the Today programme last year that Mahmood was “right to grasp this nettle and have root and branch reform of the system. I agree with that” but said perpetually having to assess the status of other nations could clog up the system. 

There was outrage last year when Reform UK announced that it would abolish the right of foreign nationals to settle in the UK permanently, and instead force them to reapply for work visas every five years.