Shabana Mahmood vows to stick with hardline migration policies after byelection defeat

Home secretary will defy ‘plain wrong’ calls from unions and leftwing MPs that she is alienating Muslim voters

Shabana Mahmood will press on with hardline immigration policies despite calls for a reversal from unions and left-leaning Labour MPs after the Green party’s byelection victory.

Senior Labour sources insisted that the home secretary would continue to roll out changes to asylum policy, dismissing as “plain wrong” claims that it would further alienate Muslim voters.