Newslinks for Monday 17th November 2025

Lawyers and Labour MPs to torpedo Mahmood’s asylum plan

“Shabana Mahmood was warned last night that her crackdown on asylum seekers faced being thwarted by Left-wing lawyers and MPs. The Home Secretary was told that for as long as Britain remained signed up to human rights laws, those ordered to return home would be able to avoid deportation. She is also facing a backlash from Labour figures and charities over her vow to stop Britain being seen as a ‘golden-ticket’ destination for illegal immigrants. Under her plan to restrict the rights of those allowed to stay here, which she will unveil in the Commons today, refugee status will become temporary and face a review every 30 months. Those wishing to settle permanently will have to wait for 20 years, and anyone fleeing unrest will be ordered to return home when their country becomes safe again. Refugees will lose the automatic right to bring their spouses and children to join them in the UK, while those still having their claims processed will no longer receive financial support unless they need it. Judges will be told not to let illegal migrants and foreign criminals dodge deportation by using Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which guarantees the right to a family life. But critics pointed out that Ms Mahmood’s proposals, many of which are based on Danish policies, will face immediate challenges in the courts unless the UK quits the ECHR and scraps the Human Rights Act (HRA).”  – Daily Mail

• Shabana Mahmood threatens Trump-style visa ban on three countries – The Times
• Shabana Mahmood warns Labour MPs ‘dark forces are stirring up anger’ over migration – The Guardian
• Small boat migrants to have jewellery & assets seized to pay for accommodation as part of Home Sec’s arrivals crackdown – The Sun
• Mahmood: Take back migrants or face visa ban – Daily Telegraph
• Asylum seekers face 20-year wait to settle in UK – as demo held at migrant site – The i

Comment:

• I will not allow foreign criminals and illegal migrants to exploit our laws – Shabana Mahmood, The Sun
• Dark forces are stirring up anger in the UK. My asylum reforms are our chance to stop them – Shabana Mahmood, The Guardian
• Shabana Mahmood would make a better prime minister than Keir Starmer – Kamal Ahmed, Daily Telegraph
• The Home Secretary has finally grasped something about immigration few in Labour understand. But I still have two grave doubts about her plan to curtail it – Stephen Glover, Daily Mail
• This is why Keir Starmer is loathed by the British public – Janet Daley, Daily Telegraph
• Mahmood is a rising Labour star – but we need to know what follows her asylum plan – Anne McElvoy, The i
• Labour appear to have got tough on migrant crisis – but you’ll hate what happens next – Giles Sheldrick, Daily Express

> Yesterday:

Reeves resorts to small measures amid budget chaos, as Rayner still to pay tax bill

“Rachel Reeves is expected to announce a tax on milkshakes in the Budget later this month as part of efforts to make the public healthier. The Chancellor is preparing to confirm she will end the exemption that milk-based drinks currently have from taxes on sugary beverages. At present, the Soft Drinks Industry Levy applies to drinks such as Coca-Cola and Irn Bru. Producers pay at least 18p per litre on soft drinks containing 5g or more of sugar per 100ml.  As well as ending the dairy exemption, the Chancellor is planning to cut the threshold to 4g per 100ml. The changes will take effect in April 2027 and raise between £50m and £100m under current Budget plans. They are likely to trigger fury in the soft drinks industry, which claims that a higher levy will push up supermarket prices by five per cent and only reduce calorie intake by the equivalent of half a grape per person, per day. The Chancellor is increasingly reliant on smaller tax measures after abandoning her plan to raise income tax, which would have broken an election manifesto promise. It means more money needs to be raised from changes such as increasing taxes on expensive homes, electric vehicles, gambling and dividends. Sir Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said: “If these reports are true, Labour’s new milkshake tax moves the goalposts yet again for an industry that’s already cut sugar and made changes responsibly. It will see businesses that played by the rules punished, with products suddenly dragged into the tax net – all to save Rachel Reeves’s skin.”” – Daily Telegraph

• Asking prices fall as UK housing market hit by budget speculation, Rightmove says – The Guardian
• Christmas is cancelled as shoppers cut back on festive supermarket baskets – The i
• Rachel Reeves’s stealth tax will cost working families more than £1,000 as Chancellor plots ‘smorgasbord’ of smaller increases – and ‘looks to introduce milkshake tax’ – Daily Mail
• Rayner yet to pay £40k stamp duty bill – Daily Telegraph

Comment:

• The day is coming where voters realise Britain is no longer a rich country – James Frayne, Daily Telegraph
• Chancellor is on the road to ruin – Ruth Sunderland, Daily Mail
• Business has given up on Labour’s scorched-earth economy – Matthew Lynn, Daily Telegraph
• The madness of fiscal rules: Reeves’s obsession is holding business back – Alex Brummer, Daily Mail

> Today:

> Yesterday:

Starmer braced for Trump call amid $1bn BBC standoff, as Farage says he’d scrap licence fee

“Reform UK would change the law to strip the BBC of the licence fee, Nigel Farage has said. The Reform leader said the current funding model of the corporation was “completely unacceptable” and vowed to use legislation in order to amend its Royal Charter. Earlier this month, The Telegraph revealed how footage in a Panorama documentary was edited to exaggerate Donald Trump’s role in the Capitol riots. Tim Davie, the BBC director-general, and Deborah Turness, the chief executive of BBC News, went on to resign after more revelations in The Telegraph about biased reporting. Jonathan Munro, Ms Turness’s deputy, has been placed in charge of the news operation despite insisting in private meetings that Panorama had done nothing wrong. Last week, Mr Trump told The Telegraph that he would sue the BBC for up to $5bn (£3.8bn). On Sunday, it emerged that the BBC had commissioned a staunch critic of Mr Trump to deliver its flagship annual Reith Lectures. Rutger Bregman, a Dutch author, reportedly used a talk that is expected to air on BBC Radio 4 next week to draw parallels between Mr Trump and Mr Farage and the rise of fascism in the 1930s. According to the Mail on Sunday, Mr Bregman used the term “a bit fashy” to describe the US president, the Reform leader and Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of Tesla and X. The White House called Mr Bregman “a rabid anti-Trump individual” in the wake of his remarks, as well as past comments in which he said opposition to Mr Trump was a “fight between good and evil”.” – Daily Telegraph

• Pressure is on PM to talk Donald Trump out of his $5billion legal threat to the BBC as looming bill ‘will hit taxpayers’ – Daily Mail
• Trump ‘more likely to win lottery’ than BBC lawsuit – Daily Telegraph
• BBC should not pay Trump any money, says former director general Tony Hall – The Guardian
• BBC lawyers say Donald Trump has no case against the Corporation despite his threats to sue for up to $5billion – because its doctored Panorama edit did not air in the US – Daily Mail

Comment:

• Trump vs the BBC is the battle royale of our tasteless culture war – Tim Stanley, Daily Telegraph
• Trump wants to crush the BBC. Time for Labour to take a stand – Ian Burrell, The i

> Yesterday:

News in brief:

• Stop saying ‘Our BBC’ – Patrick West, The Spectator
• Rachel Reeves has a confidence problem: The bond markets can smell fear – Wolfgang Munchau, UnHerd
• How immigration is shaking Spanish politics – Jack Davey, The Critic
• I want to un-square the Square Mile – Lady Mayor, CityAM