Conference notes the government’s commitment, outlined in the King’s Speech on 17 July, to introduce a Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill; a Migration Advisory Committee report on 16 July which highlighted exploitation of Seasonal Workers; and reports on 15 July of protests by refugees living on the Bibby Stockholm. The Tories gave the UK an inhumane, regressive border regime, seeking to scapegoat migrants for the misery caused by austerity and deregulation. Restricting migrant rights makes people more precarious, undermining all workers’ power to push back against exploitation.

The 2023 NPF report commits Labour to conduct “a full review of the “hostile environment”. In reviewing the Hostile Environment, Labour must begin by reversing the legacy of Tory cruelty. This means going further than the King’s Speech.

Before conference 2025, Labour will:

• repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024, Illegal Migration Act 2023, Nationality and Borders Act 2022, and Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016
• guarantee safe and legal routes for asylum seekers
• give asylum seekers day-one rights to work, education, social security and family reunion
• abolish “no recourse to public funds” and NHS charges

Before the next general election, Labour will:

• level up domestic workers’ rights
• grant all UK residents equal voting rights
• end immigration raids, detention and deportations
• introduce a simple process for all residents to gain permanent residency
• end “double sentencing”
• pursue agreements with other countries giving rights to travel, live, work and study without a visa

---

The motion above was submitted to Labour conference 2024 but ruled out of order under the notoriously slippery rule that motions must not be on more than one topic. Very similar motions have reached the agenda in many years previously.

A right-wing motion on asylum and migration was put on the agenda, but withdrawn on conference floor, because it had become almost certain that it would be voted down.

CLPs and unions passing motions now can send the government an explicit message about the demands of the labour movement which conference was unable to send.

If your CLP or union branch prefers shorter text, you may find this abridgement used in Islington South CLP useful.

---

We note with dismay Keir Starmer’s praise for the new asylum policy of the far-right Italian government.

The 2023 National Policy Forum report commits Labour to conduct “a full review of the “hostile environment”. In reviewing the Hostile Environment, Labour must begin by reversing the legacy of Tory cruelty.

We call for the Labour government to:

• repeal the Safety of Rwanda Act 2024, Illegal Migration Act 2023, Nationality and Borders Act 2022, and Immigration Acts 2014 and 2016
• create safe and legal routes for asylum seekers
• give asylum seekers day-one rights to work, education, social security and family reunion
• abolish “no recourse to public funds” and NHS charges
• end immigration raids, detention and deportations
• pursue agreements with other countries giving rights to travel, live, work and study without a visa