Mahmood recounts being called a 'f****** p***' to Commons before being forced to apologise
The Home Secretary has been outlining the Government's new measures to tackle migration
Shabana Mahmood was forced to apologise to the House of Commons for her language after recalling an incident in which she was called a "f***ing p***".
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In the Commons, Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson branded the government’s plans to require asylum seekers to contribute to costs as “cruel, state-sponsored robbery”, adding it will not fix the system.
He urged the government to "tread carefully" and to act with "fairness", "efficiency", and "compassion".
Ms Mahmood responded passionately with how the division in the country has affected her personally.
She said: "I wish I had the privilege of walking around this country and not seeing the division that the issue of migration and the asylum system is creating across this country.
"Unfortunately I am the one who is regularly called a f***ing p*** and told to go back home."
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She continued: "It is I who knows from my personal experience, and that of my constituents, just how divisive the issue of asylum has become in our country."
"I do not think it is acceptable or appropriate for people in this place to not acknowledge the real experience of those who sit outside of this house. We are supposed to be in here to reflect that experience in this house," she added.
Deputy Speaker Caroline Nokes asked the Home Secretary to apologise for the language used, saying it is "not acceptable", adding: "[It] does not become acceptable if it is attributed to others. She might like to apologise for the language used."
Ms Mahmood responded: "I apologise, Madam Speaker. I did not mean any discourtesy. I was merely reflecting the truth of words that are used to me."
The Home Secretary was forced to defend the government’s asylum reform plans after a Labour MP branded them “dystopian”.
Speaking during Home Office questions in the Commons on Monday, Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome said: “The Denmark-style policies briefed in the last couple of days are dystopian.
“It’s shameful that a Labour Government is ripping up the rights and protections of people who have endured unimaginable trauma. Is this how we’d want to be treated if we were fleeing for our lives? Of course, not.
“How can we be adopting such obviously cruel policies? Is the Home Secretary proud that the Government has sunk such that it is now being praised by Tommy Robinson?”
Ms Mahmood insisted her plans could unite “a divided country” and fix the asylum system.
She said: “I’m disappointed at the nature of the question from my friend. I hope she will look at the detail of the reforms, and what I’ve said already on these matters is that we have a problem, that it is our moral duty to fix, our asylum system is broken. The breaking of that asylum system is causing huge division across our whole country.”