Mahmood faces calls for compassion and clarity over hardline asylum policies

Home secretary urged to explain statement that asylum admissions will start at ‘a few hundred’ peopleShabana Mahmood is facing demands for compassion and clarity after it emerged that only a “few hundred” asylum seekers would initially be permitted to come to the UK under three new schemes for refugees.The home secretary had justified a series of hardline policies – such as the deportation of families and the confiscation of assets from claimants – by saying she would also open the “safe and legal” routes for “genuine” claimants. Continue reading…