She said: “Stop pussyfooting around”
Labour will clamp down on international students applying for asylum in the UK. The move comes after heavy losses to Reform in local elections.
A government white paper will set out immigration reforms in mid-May. It will include plans to reduce asylum claims from student visa holders.
It is reported that ministers want to tackle what they call “abuse of the visa system”.
The Home Office reported that 16,000 of the 108,000 asylum seekers in 2024 held student visas.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has argued that the system is being misused.
She said: “People saying they can support themselves financially when they apply to come to the UK, before claiming asylum at the end of their visa.”
The Home Office insists the plans were developed over months and not in response to Reform. Labour’s 2023 manifesto also promised to cut net migration.
Ministers are also looking at tightening rules on low-paid work for overseas students. Universities and the Department for Education are likely to resist this. Higher education relies heavily on international student fees.
Pressure has mounted on the government after Reform’s strong showing in local polls. The party won the Runcorn and Helsby by-election, 10 councils, and over 600 seats. It also took the Greater Lincolnshire mayoralty.
Jo White, MP for Bassetlaw and founder of the Red Wall group, said the government should act more boldly.
She said: “Stop pussyfooting around” and “take a leaf out of President Trump’s book.”
In the Sunday Telegraph, White backed digital ID cards and new grooming gang inquiries. She also attacked cuts to winter fuel payments.
Other Labour MPs blame spending cuts for the party’s poor showing.
Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central, said Labour must focus on protecting people:
“We were created to serve the needs of people across working areas of our country so that people had a real voice of the kind of change that they wanted to see.
“I believe that when Labour does not meet that sweet spot, that expectation that people have of a Labour government, then they start to look in less favourable places for where that help comes from.
“Yesterday, many people were searching for that response, to find that protection, to get that support.”
Emma Lewell, MP for South Shields, called for a rethink of Labour’s approach.
She said a “change of plan” was needed and that it was “tone deaf” for the prime minister to say on Friday that he would move “further and faster”.
Meanwhile, Sir Keir Starmer said he understood the anger behind the local election results.
He said: “Uncontrolled immigration, sewage in rivers, failing local services: I feel the same sharp edge of fury at the way our country has been let down as people who voted on Thursday night do.”
Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey urged Labour to confront Reform directly.
He said: “The Labour government needs to take Nigel Farage head on, not pander to his attempts to divide our country.
“We saw in Canada how Mark Carney turned the tide against populism by standing up to Trump and staying true to his values.
“In this week’s elections, we were the only party to hold back Reform with our focus on community values and pavement politics.”
A report from the Institute for Public Policy Research is expected next week. It will call for changes to the graduate visa route and may suggest closing the social care visa pathway.
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