A Labour split has erupted after the government announced that anyone entering the UK illegally on small boats will be blocked from ever becoming British citizenships.
The Home Office announced the rule change as part of Labour’s attempts to crack down on immigration.
The new guidance states: “A person who applies for citizenship from 10 February 2025 who has previously arrived without a required valid entry clearance or electronic travel authorisation, having made a dangerous journey will normally be refused citizenship.
“A dangerous journey includes, but is not limited to, travelling by small boat or concealed in a vehicle or other conveyance. It does not include, for example, arrival as a passenger with a commercial airline.”
But Labour MP Stella Creasy said the move would effectively turn illegal immigrants into “second class” citizens.
In a post on X, she said: “This should be changed asap. If we give someone refugee status, it can’t be right to then refuse them route to become a British citizen. To say they can have a home in our country, but never a place in our society and be forever second class.”
The Walthamstow MP added: “This is refusing citizenship to someone who has permission to stay indefinitely because of risk of harm. They aren’t ‘awful’. They are stateless and if this not reconsidered voiceless.”
But government minister Alex Norris defended the controversial move, telling BBC Radio 5Live: “We don’t want people making the dangerous journey of entering into the Channel [or] being under lorries. These are really dangerous things for people to do as well as being an illegal way to enter the country.”
Asked if it was a “kneejerk” reaction to Reform UK doing well in the opinion polls, Norris said: “We don’t set policies as a result of political considerations.
“I don’t think you need any more compelling reason to act in this area than the fact that people enter the Channel dangerously and in some cases, including children, lose their lives.
“It behoves any government of the day to act strongly to deter it.”