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“More Labour.” These two words sprang from the postmortem into last week’s Gorton and Denton byelection loss. But what do they mean when applied to what this government does, not least in the contested politics of migration?
To answer that, we have to understand what the Labour party really is, because at its best it is a broad church. My party was born as a union of newly industrialised, working-class communities and radical social reformers. Added to that mix came those like my family. Immigrant communities came to this country in search of better lives and found their political home in the Labour party.
Different though these groups may be, they are united by a set of values firmly within the mainstream. Three stand above all others. First, a belief in fairness: recognising that the dice are loaded against working-class communities. Second, tolerance towards others, that very British desire to live and let live. Third, a quiet but determined patriotism, for a country that is forever changing while something ineffable always endures.
Apply that to migration and you find yourself at neither extreme. It demands an approach that is fair to those willing and able to contribute to our national life, but also a pace and scale of migration that does not pressure existing communities and further stretch public services. It means offering sanctuary to those fleeing danger, but restoring control and bearing down on those who abuse our asylum system.
In short, it is neither the nightmare of Nigel Farage’s borders, in effect closed, nor the Greens’ fairytale of borders that would in effect be open. Neither is it the system we have today, which is why reform is desperately required. In the four years to the 2024 general election, this country experienced levels of migration not seen in more than four decades. Net migration hit 2.5 million people. It wasn’t only the scale, but the nature and pace of change. After the Conservatives dropped visa requirements, this country experienced the largest and fastest expansion in low-skilled migration in its history. Visa routes were loosened without safeguards. Large numbers of people arrived without clear pathways into skilled work.
We have already begun restoring control, with net migration falling by 70% since we took office. But there is more to do to make levels sustainable. We must also ensure that those who stay for good are contributing to our national life. Settlement and citizenship should be earned; contribution and integration expected.
For that reason, we will lift the qualifying period for settlement from five years to 10, and impose new conditions – a clean criminal record, sustained economic contribution and a good command of English. Those who contribute the most, such as doctors, nurses and high-earners, will have a faster path to settlement.
Those who contribute less will have to wait longer to apply. This includes those low-skilled workers, who arrived in recent years, who would otherwise receive immediate access to welfare and social housing. Should that be allowed to happen, this cost would be borne by hard-working taxpayers across the country, and place yet more pressure on already stretched public services.
Britain has a proud history of offering sanctuary to those fleeing danger. But today our asylum system fuels criminal gangs that profit from a vile trade in human beings. Hundreds of thousands of people have crossed by small boats. And at the end of December 2025, there were more than 100,000 individuals in receipt of asylum support, costing the taxpayer billions each year.
We will always offer sanctuary to genuine refugees – but only for as long as they need our protection, and not as an automatic, permanent right to remain unless they have transferred to a work or study visa. We must move away from a system that encourages illegal and unsafe routes, towards one built around safe and legal asylum. For that reason, I will be opening new safe and legal routes, starting this autumn by taking applications from students seeking asylum in this country.
At the same time, we must bear down on the illegal trade of human beings across the Channel. That means strengthening international partnerships, removing those with no right to be here, closing loopholes used to frustrate legitimate returns and using diplomatic levers to ensure other countries accept their citizens back. Our failure to deal with illegal migration erodes public confidence in having an asylum system at all. A lack of control breeds fear, and fearful people turn inwards. Patriotism becomes something smaller and darker. Our vision of a Greater Britain narrows to that of a Little England.
Meanwhile, the state’s failure to deal with so visible a problem damages trust in its ability to deliver anything at all. It is the creed of the Labour party that the state can and must be a force for good. Restoring order at our border is not just an embodiment of Labour values – it is the necessary condition for a Labour government to do anything at all.
To be “more Labour” is neither to pull up the drawbridge, nor to throw open our borders. It is to create a migration system that protects the persecuted, ensures those like my parents can seek a new life here, and commands the confidence of the people this party was created to serve.
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Shabana Mahmood is the home secretary. She is Labour MP for Birmingham Ladywood
