Shabana Mahmood has appeared to dispute Brexit’s contribution to the small boats crisis, telling MPs the UK did not deport more people when it was part of the EU’s asylum arrangements.
The home secretary stressed that the EU’s asylum pact was not the answer some suggest, saying returns for countries inside it “are not happening at scale”.
Mahmood’s comments came in response to questioning by Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson in the House of Commons.
On Monday morning, Andy Burnham argued that the rise of small boats crossings was a consequence of Britain leaving the EU.
Burnham told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “The reason the small boat crisis has arisen is we can’t return people and we have people knowing we can’t do that in the same way that we used to be able to… We need to be honest with people about where we are.”
As part of Brexit, the UK left the Dublin Regulation, which enabled the UK to transfer some asylum seekers to other states, often the country they had first entered.
Speaking in the commons, Wilkinson noted that the prime minister had discussed “improved relations with the EU as a way to solve issues in the asylum system.” But he said that Britain could not make progress on this point if the government maintains the Brexit “red lines” set out in its 2024 election manifesto.
Wilkinson accused the government of “engaging in Brexit delusion of the type we saw under the Conservatives.”
Mahmood said “the delusion here is the honourable member assuming that the EU asylum pact is up and running, and that in fact that is the silver bullet”.
She told the commons: “He will know that across Europe, whilst there is greater cooperation on data sharing and so on, the position is that everyone wants to remove people from their countries, but nobody actually wants to receive them.”
Mahmood said returns under the pact “are not happening at scale”, which she said was “also the case under the Dublin Regulation, which we were a part of.”
She said: “In the last five years of that, we did not deport as many people as we managed to do under the agreement that we had with France.”
Mahmood made a similar argument when she gave evidence to the home affairs committee in February 2026.
At the time, she told the cross-party group of MPs: “I would dispute whether Dublin actually worked as was intended. The EU has now itself created a new pact because its own arrangements were not working as intended, so I would think it is a bit of a stretch.
“I am sure there are lots of other debates to be had about the rights and wrongs of Brexit, but is Brexit responsible for the boats? I do not think that is true. On returns, it cannot be the case that that was working if the EU itself has changed its posture on its own internal arrangements when it comes to returns.”
Addressing the House on Monday afternoon, Wilkinson claimed that “internal difficulties have arisen within the Labour Party over migration”.
He added: “Cabinet members seem to be struggling to defend the home secretary’s position [on indefinite leave to remain], and government backbenchers have a wide range of opinions. Meanwhile, the prime minister has called for an honest discussion about EU freedom of movement.
“So, will the home secretary back down and get behind the prime minister, who is open to freedom of movement, or will she stay loyal to her backbench allies in the Blue Labour faction, who are so hostile?”
Mahmood is associated with the Blue Labour group of MPs, which emphasises national solidarity and communitarian principles. In an interview with former Conservative cabinet minister and Spectator editor Michael Gove in May 2025, Mahmood said she identified with the Blue Labour tradition.
Responding to Wilkinson, Mahmood accused the Liberal Democrat MP of espousing “absolute piffle”.
She stated: “He will know that the prime minister has been discussing an open debate that is not the same as settled policy.
“The prime minister has also observed that there were very significant issues with freedom of movement when we were within the EU.
“An honest debate means actually being honest about all of the aspects of that debate and not cherry-picking, as a Liberal Democrats so often want to do.”
Commenting after his exchange with Mahmood in the commons, Wilkinson argued that the prime minister and home secretary are on “totally different pages” when it comes to migration.
He said: “The home secretary and the prime minister seem to be on totally different pages when it comes to immigration. The government needs to be crystal clear what the prime minister means by an ‘honest discussion’ on freedom of movement because the more they talk, the less clear it becomes and the more they seem divided.
“Every day Ministers delay negotiating access to the EU pact is another day of dangerous Channel crossings and wasted taxpayer money.”
