Cachella Smith
Live reporter

Image source, UK Parliament/PA

The government has today announced a set of asylum reforms aimed at reducing arrivals and increasing removals from the UK in a bid to fix what Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has called a "broken" system.

While she stressed that the UK will always offer sanctuary to those fleeing danger, Mahmood set out that some people, nonetheless, seek to abuse the system and the impact on the country has been "profound".

Here are some of the measures announced:

• Refugee status will become temporary with regular reviews every 30 months. People could therefore be returned to their home country when it is deemed "safe"
• Human Rights Law will be reconsidered - including narrowing how the right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is applied in migration court cases
• Guaranteed housing and weekly pay will end for some asylum seekers - including those who have permission to work, who have committed a crime or have defied removal directions; support will still be available for "those who are destitute"
• New safe and legal routes to the UK will be established along with an annual cap on arrivals via these routes
• New technologies will strengthen enforcement - including trials of AI-driven technology to verify the age of asylum seekers

Presenting plans to the House of Commons this evening, Mahmood received some push back from other parties.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch praised the focus on the issue, but said the government's measures don't go far enough, while Liberal Democrat spokesperson Max Wilkinson criticised the rhetoric used which described the country as "being torn apart" by immigration. For Reform UK, Danny Kruger suggested Labour was sounding more like his own party - before saying that they would implement stricter policies.

We're now ending our live coverage, but you can stay across further updates in our main news story, or read our political reporter's assessment of the six key takeaways from today's announcement.

We can bring you some more responses from our audience, as our team of experts have been fielding their questions about today's asylum reforms over on BBC News.

One person wants clarity about the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) - and asks why the UK's migration policy needs to align with it?

• Labour sees the ECHR as a "vital protection" of rights and thinks the UK would be an "international outlier" if it left, says BBC Political Correspondent Georgia Roberts
• As a "sovereign state", the UK does have the power to "make its own immigration laws", adds Peter Walsh, senior researcher at Oxford University's Migration Observatory. But it wants to negotiate reforming the ECHR rather than leaving it outright, he adds

The next question is on small boats, and they ask: why are they not being stopped at their source?

• A fairly straightforward answer to this one from Tony Smith, former Director General of UK Border Force, who says, the UK has "no jurisdiction on French beaches"

Another person puts the question to the panel: why has the government failed to listen to migration concerns until now?

• Roberts says that Labour and the Conservatives have "toughened up" their stance in response to pressure from Reform UK, which is performing well in recent opinion polls

The panel is then asked why asylum seekers aren't staying in France?

• Smith points to a "number of factors" including the fact that the UK is an English-speaking country, very diverse, and offers asylum support and legal aid. "There's a very good chance that you will be allowed to stay," he adds, saying this is not the case in other countries

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage says he is "undecided" on whether to support the government's asylum plans.

Speaking to reporters, he says: "I welcome the home secretary’s language. It sounds like she is auditioning for Reform. But I’ve got some very serious doubts whether any of it will make a difference.”

He adds that he supports the ideas - "the things like visa bans, using our muscle is absolutely right".

On whether his party will support the legislation when it comes forward, Farage says: "It’s a big decision."

"I want to because Mahmood is saying the right things, on the other, all the while the ECHR is there, the big elephant is there in the room, I begin to say to myself 'what’s the point?' So I am undecided at this stage," he says.

James Cook
Scotland editor

Motaz, 20, a student at Glasgow University who is originally from Yemen, said the home secretary's plans were wrong in principle and would not deter desperate people from travelling to the UK.

"It won't stop people from coming here because people are fleeing persecution, people are fleeing wars, people are fleeing conflicts," he said.

As a nine-year-old boy, Motaz fled war and persecution in his homeland, travelling to Saudi Arabia and Greece, before arriving in the UK in 2022 aged 16 with his parents and two siblings, where they successfully sought asylum.

Motaz who is studying engineering, robotics and artificial intelligence, told BBC News the certainty of being granted refugee status in the UK had helped him to integrate.

"I felt that kind of sense of belonging and I felt that ability to contribute, the ability to call this place my home, the ability to help my local community," he explained.

Motaz described the idea that people might have to wait up to 20 years before they could be sure of their right to remain in the UK as "really worrying".

"It makes me really feel disappointed because as someone that is really integrated and someone that is part of the community, I know that the main issue we're facing is not migration."

He added: "I think the phrase that has been used by the home secretary is that illegal migration is dividing our country. I think, yes, it is dividing our country because politicians talk about it non-stop and they don't really focus on the issues that the communities are facing."

We've been hearing from our audience about the government's reforms to the asylum system:

Donald Riches: I feel like many other people in the UK now that this whole immigration mess has gone too far. I want to see the Denmark approach process happen and become law. We are losing our identity both in the local communities up and down the country.

Jack: Regarding the home secretary's proposal of visa bans to three African countries, I actually think she is taking action against the wrong countries. If the small boats are coming from France, then surely it's France that is the problem? Not three African nations thousands of miles away.

James: I thought the main selling point of Brexit was getting control of our borders back... Also mass immigration is caused by wars, famine, climate change to name a few reasons, it isn't as simple as stop the boats. Unless we tackle these root causes then you will never be able to tackle the problem.

Brian: Why is this country still accepting ‘ILLEGAL’ immigrants? Don’t accept them, send them straight back!

Labour MP Luke Myer asks Mahmood if she can assure people that she will not only "talk the talk, but also walk the walk".

She says she has every intention of "walking the walk".

The home secretary acknowledges that trust in the UK's immigration system has degraded over time and led to division. She says it is on her to make sure this overhaul of asylum policy works.

"Judge us on what we deliver through these reforms," she adds.

With that, the session in the Commons has come to an end.

Abtisam Mohamed says "hostile policies" from the previous government failed to fix the asylum system.

The Labour MP for Sheffield Central says communities are being divided by "constant anti-refugee rhetoric".

Mahmood earlier said she has been called racial slurs and told to "go back home". Mohamed says this is "vile racism" that she has also faced.

She says the new proposals just add more cost and pressure to an already overstretched system, which is facing huge backlogs.

Mahmood responds, saying it is incumbent on her as a home secretary to fix the problems.

She vows that it is her job to have the funding for the reforms, "and we will".

Labour MP Samantha Niblett says she "cannot thank [the home secretary] enough" for today's statement as "at last my constituents feel heard".

She says it was the "number one" issue that has been dividing her community, and asks how frequently to expect an update on the delivery of these proposed policies.

The home secretary says she wants to "assure" Niblett that she understands the best way to build public trust is to "get on with legislating and then implementing those reforms".

Shabana Mahmood has now presented the government's proposals for changing the UK's asylum system to the House of Commons.

While some MPs are still putting questions to the home secretary, let's take a look back at what we've heard so far:

• Mahmood said refugee status would become temporary and reviewed every two-and-a-half years, meaning people could be returned to their home country if it is judged "safe"
• She said the government will revoke the legal duty to provide asylum seekers with support if they have existing permission to work, and spoke of possible visa bans for three African countries if their governments do not improve co-operation on removals
• The home secretary said the government plans to change how the right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) is applied in migration court cases
• Leader of the opposition Kemi Badenoch praised the home secretary's "clearer focus" but said the measures on their own will not work, while Liberal Democrat spokesperson Max Wilkinson criticised rhetoric of a country "being torn apart" by immigration. Reform MP Danny Kruger said he recognised the "rhetoric" used by the home secretary today

• Green Party MP Carla Denyer accused Mahmood of "attempting to out-reform Reform", while the home secretary accused the Greens of "hypocrisy" for "opposing asylum accommodation in their own constituencies"

The Commons session is continuing and we will keep bringing you updates - you can also follow along by clicking Watch live above.

Labour MP Apsana Begum says deporting families after they've resettled because their country is deemed safe is "wrong".

She asks the home secretary: "How does the government determine what a safe country is?"

Mahmood says the government's list of safe country reviews are publicly available.

For context: Under the government's reforms, people granted asylum in the UK will only be allowed to stay in the country temporarily, with their status reviewed every 30 months. This means people could be returned to their home country if it is judged "safe".

On visa sanctions - which the government has threatened three African countries with - Mahmood says this is related to the fact that countries don't comply when the government tries to return people.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana hits out at the government's policies, saying they are "straight out of the fascist playbook".

Sultana asks the home secretary - who is a child of immigrants - if she is "proud" to introduce measures which "punish and persecute desperate and vulnerable people" and "kick away the ladder" for others.

Mahmood replies that "everything she said is beneath contempt".

Labour MP Afzal Khan says migrants make "immeasurable contributions" to communities, and that the language used to talk about immigration "must reflect the important role immigrants play".

The home secretary replies: "I absolutely agree". She adds that it's important to fix the system and maintain public consent in having an asylum system.

Labour's John McDonnell asks the home secretary if she can give assurance that no child will be placed in detention under the policy changes.

He argues that the security of children and their families will be undermined given that they will face the threat of removal.

In response, Mahmood says the plans will undergo an equality impact assessment.

"This country is fundamentally open, tolerant and generous," she adds.

Mahmood later returns to McDonnell's question: "In case the microphone did not pick up my answer on the detention of children, I can give him the assurance he sought."

Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts accuses the government of "stoking fear and division", which she says "has consequences".

She says that when the home secretary speaks of unity, "imitating Reform doesn't create unity, doesn't win trust, but standing firm on values does".

Mahmood replies: "That's just unserious".

"I'm sorry to find that the Reform Party is rent-free in so many people's heads, I can assure you it's nowhere near mine."

The home secretary says the government's proposals are designed to fix a "broken system".

"These are matters of great interest across our country, across every type of community in our country", she says.

Image source, UK PARLIAMENT

The Independent MP for Islington North, Jeremy Corbyn, accuses the home secretary of putting "draconian measures" into place against refugees.

He says she fails to recognise that 6,000 of the refugees that crossed the Channel this year come from war-torn Afghanistan.

He says that Mahmood is instead trying to appease "the most ghastly, right-wing racist forces across Europe in walking away from the European Convention on Human Rights".

Mahmood responds by saying that Corbyn should know that there are bespoke schemes for the resettlement of people from Afghanistan.

If he read the policy statement, she says, he would know this is about securing safe and legal routes.

"Once he's done more reading, I'll be happy to answer more of his questions."

Image source, UK Parliament

Green Party MP Carla Denyer says: "It isn't people seeking sanctuary that are tearing people apart, it's toxic, racist narratives and the scapegoating of migrants and asylum seekers for what is nothing to do with them."

She asks Mahmood if she understands that "attempting to out-Reform Reform... will only deepen divisions".

Mahmood replies that she "couldn't care less" what any other political party or politician says, she says she cares that "she has an important job to do, and I can say that there is a problem here that needs to be fixed".

To pretend it doesn't exist, she says, "fuels division in the first place".

She then accuses the Greens of "hypocrisy" for "opposing asylum accommodation in their own constituencies".

Reform MP Danny Kruger says he "welcomes" and "recognises" the "rhetoric" used by the home secretary today, before repeating a suggestion we have heard from opponents throughout the day - that Labour sounds like Reform.

"Before she puts in her application to join Reform UK... can I draw out the difference between our parties?" he asks.

Kruger says Reform doesn't propose giving "illegal immigrants" the right to stay for two-and-a-half years, to work and study, or to bring their families over to the UK. He adds that Reform is also not going to "contort our law to fit into the European Convention on Human Rights".

Mahmood points out that there wasn't a question in there from Kruger. As for his invitation to join his party, she says: "Over my dead body."

Next up in the Commons is Scottish National Party shadow home affairs spokesperson Pete Wishart, who says Mahmood's new policy has been welcomed by Reform UK and found favour with Tommy Robinson.

"From throwing refugees into destitution, to denying any meaningful route to citizenship to forcible evictions, where exactly is the compassion in that?" he asks.

Responding to Wishart, Mahmood says that "given that Tommy Robinson doesn't even think I'm English, I think we'll leave that there".

She adds it is not a surprise to see an SNP MP defending a broken status quo because "that's what they do in Scotland under the SNP".

Conservative MP Saqib Bhatti asks the home secretary what third party countries she's negotiating with for "return hubs" - where failed asylum seekers could be sent instead of their home country.

Mahmood replies that these are active negotiations and ongoing, and she hopes to have announcements to make soon.

Labour MP Derek Twigg asks the home secretary about asylum seekers who have been deported after committing crimes, who then go on to make a second asylum application.

Mahmood says that a combination of Sentencing Bill changes and the policies announced today should result in "earlier deportations of foreign national offenders".

It is important that offenders face the "full force of the law", Mahmood says. However, she adds that the government has made a "policy decision" that, for the vast majority of foreign offenders, the "appropriate thing" is to move to "immediate deportation wherever possible".

Conservative Ashley Fox, MP for Bridgwater in Somerset, says his constituents want the Holiday Inn in their area "emptied of migrants".

He says that in order to achieve that, the home secretary needs to be bolder.

He asks: "Does she agree with me that anyone who arrives in this country illegally should be detained on entry and deported automatically?"

Mahmood says she will not take any lessons from the party who brought in hotel use in the first place.

She says the government is looking into alternatives and reiterates its pledge to end the use of hotels to house asylum seekers by the end of this Parliament.