New home secretary threatens to suspend visas if countries do not agree to take back migrants
New home secretary will do ‘whatever it takes’ to stop small boat crossings
- Shabana Mahmood, the new Home Secretary, stated the UK could suspend visas for countries refusing to take back their citizens who have no right to be in the UK.
- She affirmed her commitment to do "whatever it takes" to stop small boat crossings, describing it as a Labour policy.
- Ms Mahmood discussed this potential visa suspension with "Five Eyes" allies, including Donald Trump’s Secretary of Homeland Security, Kristi Noem.
- Her comments follow a record year for Channel crossings, with over 30,000 arrivals by dinghy deemed "utterly unacceptable."
- The Home Secretary is also planning a wider crackdown on immigration, including moving asylum seekers from hotels into military barracks.