‘I am the one that’s regularly called a f***ing P***’: Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood hits back at MP’s claim she’s ‘stoking division’ as she unveils asylum overhaul

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood tonight hit back at claims she is ‘stoking division’ with her stance on immigration as she unveiled a fresh package of asylum reforms.

In a forthright response to critics, Ms Mahmood described to the House of Commons how she is ‘regularly called a f***ing P*** and told to go back home’.

‘It is I who knows, through my personal experience and that of my constituents, just how divisive the issue of asylum has become in our country,’ she said.

‘This system is broken, and it is incumbent on all MPs to acknowledge how badly broken the system is.

‘And to make it a moral mission to fix this system so that it stops creating the division that we all see.’

The Home Secretary on Monday announced sweeping changes in a bid to reduce Britain’s attractiveness to asylum seekers and crack down on the small boats crisis.

She also unveiled new proposals to bolster the process for removing people with no right to be in the UK.

Ms Mahmood is already facing a backlash to her plans from Left-wing Labour MPs, while the Liberal Democrats also challenged the Home Secretary over her approach.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood tonight hit back at claims she is ‘stoking division’ with her stance on immigration as she unveiled a fresh package of asylum reforms

Max Wilkinson, the party’s home affairs spokesman, criticised the Home Secretary over her claim that illegal migration is ‘tearing the country apart’

Max Wilkinson, the party’s home affairs spokesman, criticised the Home Secretary over her claim that illegal migration is ‘tearing the country apart’.

The Lib Dem frontbencher told the Commons: ‘What is not helpful is the Home Secretary claiming that the country is being torn apart by immigration.

‘Acknowledging the challenges facing our nation is one thing, but stoking division by using immoderate language is quite another.’

Mr Wilkinson branded Labour’s plans to require asylum seekers to contribute to costs as ‘cruel, state-sponsored robbery’, adding it will not fix the system.

In response, Ms Mahmood said: ‘I wish I had the privilege of walking around this country and not seeing the division that the issue of migration and asylum system is creating across this country.

‘Unlike him, unfortunately, I am the one that is regularly called a f****** P*** and told to go back home.

‘It is I who knows, through my personal experience and that of my constituents, just how divisive the issue of asylum has become in our country.’

‘This system is broken, and it is incumbent on all Members of Parliament to acknowledge how badly broken the system is and to make it a moral mission to fix this system so that it stops creating the division that we all see,’ she added.

The Home Secretary added: ‘We’re not saying that we will take everything away and leave that individual destitute, but I think contribution is a fair principle here.’

Ms Mahmood was later rebuked by Caroline Nokes, the Commons Deputy Speaker, for her ‘not acceptable’ language and urged to apologise.

She replied: ‘I apologise. I did not mean any discourtesy, I was merely reflecting to truth of words that are used to me.’