'It sticks in the craw'

But Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood says it might be worth paying illegal migrants up to £30,000 to leave UK

- BY MICHAEL KNOWLES Home Affairs Editor

SHABANA Mahmood has not ruled out paying migrants up to £30,000 to leave the UK.

The Home Secretary said more “generous” offers could incentivise people to leave as she confirmed Labour will hike payments.

Foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers and immigration offenders currently get up to £3,000.

Ms Mahmood - speaking in Denmark, which has enacted policies that Labour modelled its framework on — refused to rule out a tenfold increase, insisting only: “I haven’t made any final decisions on what the right sum is.”

She added: “I know it sort of sticks in your craw to think that you’re going to pay people who've come to your country illegally to leave and go back to their home country.

“What I would say is, when you look at the numbers, to house somebody in asylum accommodation, in a hotel, it costs £53,000 a year per person, a huge sum of money going to waste.