What are Labour's new asylum policies? And what are the political risks?

"After a summer recess dominated by headlines about Reform UK's hardline immigration proposals and protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers, the home secretary returned to parliament seeking to wrest back control of the narrative. Yvette Cooper has announced a flurry of tough asylum measures including suspending refugee family reunion applications, and even floated the idea that refugees could be moved out of hotels and into warehouses instead."

"The government has temporarily suspended new refugee family reunion applications as ministers want to prove that refugees will be covered by the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else. People who have had their asylum claims accepted will now have to apply through the standard family scheme that applies to UK citizens, who are required to show that they have a joint income of at least 29,000 a year before they are allowed to bring a partner to the UK."

"Campaigners have warned this is one of the only safe, legal routes available for refugees fleeing persecution or war to be reunited with their partner or child. Some MPs have highlighted remarks Cooper made four years ago, when she said: If there are not safe, legal routes for family reunion we end up with more people driven into the hands of dangerous criminal gangs."

Yvette Cooper announced a set of tough asylum measures that include suspending new refugee family reunion applications and proposing to move some refugees out of hotels into warehouses. The government suspended family reunion routes to align refugees with standard family migration rules and conditions, which include a £29,000 joint income threshold for bringing a partner. Changes to the family reunion process are planned and expected to become law in spring. Campaigners warned that family reunion is a vital safe legal route for refugees fleeing persecution or war. The government pledged to end use of asylum hotels by 2029; at least 32,000 asylum seekers currently occupy them.

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