UK looks to Denmark to shake up immigration system

Shabana Mahmood set to announce changes

Shabana Mahmood is set to announce a shake-up of Britain’s immigration rules with reforms modelled on the Danish system, it is understood.

The Home Secretary dispatched officials to the country last month to study its border control and asylum policies, which are seen as some of the toughest in Europe.

Denmark’s tighter rules on family reunions and restricting some refugees to a temporary stay are among the policies being looked at.

Ms Mahmood will announce major changes to the UK system later this month, according to the BBC, which first reported the plans.

Labour MPs are split on the move. Some in so-called red wall seats, which are seen as vulnerable to challenge from Reform UK, want ministers to go further in the Danish direction.

Others believe the policies will estrange progressive voters and push the party too far to the right.

It comes after a difficult few months for the Government which saw rising numbers of small boat crossings in the Channel and a migrant, who was deported under the UK’s returns deal with France, re-enter the country.

The Iranian man was detected on arrival and removed after he arrived in the UK for a second time on October 18, a month after he was returned to France.

But his second crossing back to the country prompted criticism that the Government is in “total chaos”, while ministers insisted his detection on arrival “shows the system is working”.

Ms Mahmood wants deterrents in place to stop people seeking to enter Britain via unauthorised routes, while making it easier to remove those who are found to have no right to stay in the UK.

Stoke-on-Trent Central Labour MP Gareth Snell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that any change bringing “fairness” to an asylum system that his constituents “don’t trust” is “worth exploring”.

He said it was “worth looking at what best practice we can find from our sister parties around the world where they have managed to find practical solutions” to managing immigration.

But Nottingham East MP Nadia Whittome, who is a member of the party’s Socialist Campaign Group caucus, urged against emulating the Danish model, suggesting it was “far-right”.

“I think these are policies of the far-right. I don’t think anyone wants to see a Labour government flirting with them,” she said.

Published: 08/11/2025 by Radio NewsHub