Mahmood accuses asylum seekers of 'vexatious' claims in effort to stay

Shabana Mahmood has accused asylum seekers of making “vexatious last-minute claims” to avoid removal to France as the Home Office said it would review modern slavery laws to save Keir Starmer’s returns deal.

- Rajeev Syal Diane Taylor

After an 11th-hour injunction that scuppered the start of Labour’s “one in, one out” scheme, the home secretary said she would stop claimants “suddenly deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal”, adding that it made a “mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity”.

Her unusually forthright words came as Keir Starmer’s government faced intense pressure from its own backbenchers and Reform UK over the issue of immigration and small boat arrivals from France. The prime minister announced the returns deal in July and has fuelled expectations that rejected claimants would be sent back this week. So far, no one has been put onboard a flight.

On Tuesday, a high court ruling blocked the deportation of a 25-year-old Eritrean man who was due to be flown to Paris. The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said he was a victim of trafficking and would be made destitute if sent to France.

After the ruling, officials abandoned plans for a flight yesterday. The Home Office announced it would appeal against the decision.

Mahmood said: “Last-minute attempts to frustrate a removal are intolerable, and I will fight them at every step. Migrants suddenly deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal, having never made such a claim before, make a mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity.