Shabana Mahmood's migration plans to pay migrant families £40k to leave and make refugee status temporary sparks Labour backlash

Several Labour MPs are unhappy with the Home Secretary's radical plans outlined today.

LBC revealed today her idea to pay failed asylum seeker families up to £40,000 to leave the UK within seven days.

She told us earlier today that Denmark - who pays up to £30,000 - has shown the plans work.

The Home Office is launching a new pilot where up to £10,000 per person will be given for people who cooperate with the system.

She's also set out plans to make refugee status territory temporary, and to remove taxpayer-funded support from people who break the law, or who go on to work illegally while waiting for their claim to be processed.

But some of those plans have sparked a furious backlash among Labour MPs.

LBC's seen a string of WhatsApp messages from the Parliamentary Labour Party WhatsApp chat, where MPs are openly attacking the governments' plans.

One MP shared the Home Secretary's article in the Guardian arguing that Labour believe in a "migration system that is fair, but firm... compassionate, but controlled.... please share the latest."

However, a string of MPs weighed in to say they wouldn't be doing so.

Sarah Owens replied: "No thanks. Will not be sharing this."

Kate Osborne added: "Absolutely not."

And Vicky Foxcroft said: "I won't either."

Ms Owen said the government's ideas were not "fair, credible or sustainable", adding: "If you'd done some proper engagement beforehand, like that done with SEND, you'd see people are willing to have the tough conversations."

And Stella Creasey added: "I look forward to reading the NAO report and its inevitable Windrush style scandal coming that none of us stood on a manifesto to implement.... The public do want better border control - this isn't it!"

Other MPs weighed in to defend the government, with Luke Myers saying: "We were elected on a central manifesto promise of strong borders. We must deliver this. If we fail we will get a government which burns down the entire system along with workers' rights, child poverty prevention and our NHS with it."

Abtisam Mohamed said: "This is anything but compassionate and can we stop selling it as such. Not Labour values at all. You should have engaged us before coming up with such damaging policies."

Kim Johnson and Olivia Blake MPs both replied with a vomit emoji to the message.

Read more: What is Shabana Mahmood’s UK asylum and visa overhaul?

Read more: Mahmood to warn against Labour turning left after by-election defeat as she launches new asylum overhaul

Meanwhile, Labour MP Tony Vaughan has co-ordinated a private letter to the Home Secretary, which has been signed by 100 Labour MPs, expressing concerns about the plans

He says Govt plans undermine the government’s integration and cohesion objectives - he is concerned about refugee status becoming temporary even after 20 years of lawful residence, says that the proposals "risk worsening child poverty", unfairly shifting settlement “goalposts”, and would "harm the UK’s economic competitiveness by exacerbating skills shortages"

He said this morning: "We can change our immigration system for the better without forgetting who we are as a Labour Party.

"You don’t win back public confidence in the asylum system by threatening to forcibly remove refugees who have lived here lawfully for 15 or 20 years. That just breeds insecurity and fractured communities."

Ms Mahmood said earlier today that "more Labour doesn’t mean open borders… And more Labour doesn’t mean closed borders either.

"More Labour means a migration system that welcomes those who come here and contribute to our national life."

And she warned colleagues that if she did not succeed, Labour would be thrown out of office and the far right in the form of Nigel Farage would implement a far harsher situation, where even more people would be deported.

As part of the Home Secretary's plans, around 150 families - including children - are expected to take part in the trial to be encouraged to leave, to see if it can help save money.

They hope that if rolled out more widely, it can save the Home Office up to £20million a year.

LBC spoke with the Home Secretary about the plans last week on a visit to Copenhagen, Denmark, where she took inspiration from the Danes for our migration system.

They pay families up to £30,000 in order to leave quickly.

She said she wanted to pay people more than the £3,000 they're currently getting in a bid to try and encourage more to leave, quicker.

A Home Office spokesperson stressed: "This is not a pull factor.

“Illegal migrants pay smugglers tens of thousands of pounds to get to Britain.

"If those families offered the time-limited payment refuse, we will forcibly remove them.”

The Home Office says they are stuck paying hundreds of families with no right to be in Britain up to £158,000 a year to stay in hotels, and receive support.

The government's also announced that asylum handouts and accommodation will be removed for migrants who are abusing the system.

Ministers will repeal parts of EU law to remove the right to asylum support and accommodation from those who can support themselves, break the law, or work illegally.

They hope that will be another step to remove the incentives which are drawing illegal migrants to Britain.

Insiders say that it will mean support is reserved only for those who genuinely need it and follow the law.

It will not mean that people who come here illegally via small boat will automatically face losing their support.

On Monday, new rules kicked in which will make refugee status temporary, rather than starting asylum-seekers on a pathway to staying in Britain within five years.

The Home Secretary will instead review asylum-seeker status every 30 months, and if a country is designated to be safe within that time, families will be expected to return home.

Denmark say they've managed to halve the number of people awaiting deportation partly as a result of their similar strategies.

Families who refuse to leave or obstruct their departure won't be eligible for the scheme and may lose support under the Home Secretary's radical new plans.

Ms Mahmood said: "Taxpayers should not be footing millions of pounds to accommodate families who have no right to be here, especially when others comply with the rules and leave the UK when required.

"That is why we are acting to remove them swiftly, cut hotel use and slash costs.

"I will do whatever it takes to remove the incentives that drive illegal migration and restore order and control to our borders, while ensuring the system is firm, fair and applied consistently to everyone”.