Shabana Mahmood 'pushed around by Andy Burnham's Left-wing mates' over sweeping new rights for refugees

By GABRIEL MILLARD-CLOTHIER, POLITICAL REPORTER Published: 00:00, 28 June 2026 | Updated: 00:03, 28 June 2026 Shabana Mahmood has been accused of being 'pushed around' by Labour's Left-wing MPs after she unveiled sweeping new rights for refugees. The Home Secretary this weekend announced she would open 'safe and legal' routes that would allow a reported 10,000 asylum-seekers to come to the UK. Her move is seen as a way of currying favour with Left-wing Andy Burnham, as she seeks to hold on to her job if, as expected, he becomes prime minister. But her plans to allow universities, community groups and charities to sponsor asylum seekers to come to the UK, and help them find housing and work, were roundly condemned. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: 'We have already seen 75,000 illegal immigrants enter the country by small boat since the election - including 1,000 in the past week alone.  'Until this is stopped completely, we should not be creating new routes into the UK for asylum claimants.' And Reform's migration spokesman, Zia Yusuf, said: 'If Andy Burnham really believes the British people want this, he should put it in his manifesto and call a general election.' Home Secretary Shaban Mahmood announced proposals for 'safe and legal' routes under which around 10,000 asylum seekers could come to the UK Incumbent Mayor Andy Burnham has been criticised by opponents, who argue he has taken a more left-leaning stance on asylum seekers  The Home Secretary urged Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to remove Mike Tapp (pictured) as under-secretary for migration and citizenship after he wrote a newspaper article without authorisation The plan comes at a time of civil war within the Home Office, with Ms Mahmood, pictured, embroiled in a bitter and public row with one of her junior ministers.  The Home Secretary had called on Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to sack Mike Tapp from his position as under-secretary for migration and citizenship after he wrote an unauthorised newspaper article. Ms Mahmood said Mr Tapp had broken the ministerial code, which requires collective responsibility - that all ministers support each other's decisions. But Sir Keir took his side and refused to bow to her demands. However, in calling for Mr Tapp's head, MPs on both sides believe Ms Mahmood may have broken the same code herself. She has also barred Mr Tapp from viewing any official documents or holding meetings, which are also potential breaches of the ministerial code. One Labour MP added: 'The hypocrisy is laughable. Clearly, she has a case to answer and should refer herself to the ethics adviser at once. If she doesn't, people will start to think she has something to hide.' Another Labour MP close to Burnham's camp said: 'Shabana has clearly taken this too far and has got egg on her face. Obviously, she doesn't like the taste of her own medicine.' Ms Mahmood declined to comment, while a source close to her indicated that she would not refer herself to the ethics watchdog. The comments below have not been moderated. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.