By GB News (World News) | Created at 2026-10-05 08:40:54 | Updated at 2026-10-05 09:16:08
39 minutes ago
Shabana Mahmood has voiced her anger over her Labour colleagues lobbying her to hand out more visas to bring migrant workers to Britain.
The Home Secretary expressed her dismay at the "sheer number" of requests she receives from fellow ministers in other departments to be more liberal in dishing out visas.
She revealed she receives such demands from colleagues on an almost weekly basis.
Ms Mahmood hit out at her own party for "pulling the lever" to import more workers from abroad while Britain's youth unemployment crisis continues to spiral.
She told The Rest is Politics podcast: "You should absolutely seek to bring workers in from abroad when you have a genuine labour shortage that you can't fix any other way.
"But I got to tell you, since I've been in the Home Office, the sheer number of requests I get from colleagues across Government from other departments, 'Can I have 10 visas over here for welders or something.'"
The Home Secretary said she would challenge colleagues as to why such vacancies cannot be filled with British workers, only to be told: "It's urgent, and we haven't got the time."
Ms Mahmood admitted she receives requests "all the time" and is approached by Cabinet ministers "at least once every week or two".
The Home Secretary expressed her dismay at the 'sheer number' of requests she receives from fellow ministers in other departments
PA
She continued: "No one has been thinking about the skills needs of people who are already here because it's a bit too easy to just always bring in foreign workers.
"And the other thing that bothers me about that is be no doubt those foreign workers are being brought in because they're cheaper, and their conditions will be worse, right?"
The Home Secretary insisted it was her party's job to stand up for workers' pay and conditions and to "sort the sector out".
Despite her frustration over repeated requests to bring over more overseas workers, Ms Mahmood outlined her desire to allow more refugees to come to Britain.
Shabana Mahmood admitted she receives requests 'all the time' and is approached by ministers 'at least once every week'
She said she wanted to grant those seeking to come into the country refugee status before they set foot in Britain before helping them integrate into the country.
"I want us to play our full part and do right by people around the world," Ms Mahmood added.
Her comments came after she unveiled a new safe and legal routes for "vulnerable" refugees at the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.
One of the routes set to be launched will be a resettlement scheme for those fleeing Afghanistan and Palestine.
Shabana Mahmood has outlined her desire to allow more refugees to come to Britain
Ms Mahmood also admitted it is impossible to return every illegal migrant who crosses the English Channel back to France after the "one-in, one-out" deal with France was scrapped last week.
The Home Secretary said: "Even if we just sent people on a plane and said, off you go, you're going straight back to France, they can turn that plane back and send it to us as well.
"That's just not how those relationships between countries work."
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp accused all Labour MPs of pushing for "more open borders" despite the failure of "low-skilled mass immigration" into Britain.
He said: "Labour are handing out hundreds of thousands of work permits while millions of Brits sit on benefits.
"We should employ UK nationals before we bring in foreign labour."
