Green Party leader Zack Polanski has called on incoming Prime Minister Andy Burnham to abandon Labour's "dangerous anti-migrant slant" after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced asylum seekers would be forced to pay £10,000 before settling permanently.
Mahmood's plan raises more questions than answers
Polanski argued the proposal, likened to a student loans scheme, is not about saving money. "If the government is so concerned about the costs of housing people awaiting an asylum decision, they wouldn't be hosting them in military barracks," he said. "If they were so desperate to recoup living costs, they wouldn't continue to block asylum seekers from working."
The Green leader accused the government of pursuing "performative cruelty" to win back Reform voters, pointing to dehumanising deportation videos and Prime Minister Keir Starmer's 'Island of Strangers' speech. "After two years, what has it got them? No higher poll ratings and no improvement in the public's view of how the government is tackling migration," Polanski added.
Burnham urged to change course
Polanski noted that Burnham, expected to become Prime Minister, reportedly backs Mahmood's reforms and has pledged to expand detention centres. "If Burnham is going to change course, he must put a halt to this government's dangerous anti-migrant slant," Polanski wrote. "Only a full reset on rhetoric and implementation of a genuinely fair and managed migration system can begin to heal the deep wounds."
The Green Party proposes safe and managed routes for asylum seekers, breaking up the Home Office to treat migration as a non-criminal issue, and allowing asylum seekers to work. "It's these common sense solutions, not more performative cruelty, that will fix our broken migration system," Polanski concluded.
