Tories vow to close Labour's Afghan and Palestinian asylum pathways immediately

In his address to the Conservative Party conference, shadow home secretary Chris Philp announced that a future Tory government would immediately terminate the Labour-led “safe routes” programme that offers asylum pathways for Afghan women, girls and Palestinians. He argued the scheme should not proceed amid what he described as widespread illegal migration. Philp also proposed creating a new Home Office removals unit tasked with deporting 150,000 individuals per year - including failed asylum seekers, foreign criminals and visa overstayers - with a goal of removing three-quarters of a million people over a Parliament.

He warned that Labour’s pending changes to indefinite leave to remain would lock millions of low-paid migrants in the country at great cost to taxpayers. The speech further attacked the National Police Chiefs’ Council’s racial-equity policy as “literally racist” and mocked Reform UK’s leadership.