UK Immigration and Asylum Bill: What MPs Are Weighing

The Immigration and Asylum Bill, the government’s plan to change how asylum appeals are heard and who qualifies for protection, passed its second reading in the House of Commons on 13 July by 264 votes to 90, according to the Guardian. It is now in committee, where MPs examine it line by line, and the next sitting is on 13 October. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs that “public consent for our asylum system is fraying.”

What the bill does

According to the House of Commons Library, the bill is “as much about modern slavery as immigration and asylum.” Its main changes:

• Appeals. A new Independent Immigration Appeals Authority would eventually replace the First-tier Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber). Appeals would be decided by adjudicators who need not be legally qualified. The government says this would speed decisions; people now wait over a year for an appeal hearing, the Library says.
• Article 8. The bill would tighten how judges apply the right to family and private life under the European Convention on Human Rights. An impact assessment suggests about 11,700 more Article 8 cases would be refused.
• Protection status. Refugee status and humanitarian protection would be replaced by one “protection status.” The Guardian reports refugees’ status would be reassessed every 30 months.
• Repayment. The Home Secretary could require some refugees to repay part of the cost of support they received while waiting for a decision. The Home Office has suggested about £10,000, the Library says.
• Modern slavery. The bill adds new court orders after an acquittal, electronic monitoring, a credibility check in the National Referral Mechanism, and fines for public bodies that fail to publish supply-chain statements.

Where it stands

• 30 June: the bill is introduced in the Commons.
• 13 July: MPs give it a second reading, 264-90, after rejecting the reasoned amendment 97-358. Fourteen Labour MPs voted against, the Guardian reports (division 2406).
• 15 September: the public bill committee holds its first sitting.
• 13 October: committee sittings resume.
• After committee: report stage and third reading in the Commons, then the same stages in the House of Lords. The bill becomes law only after Royal Assent, the monarch’s formal approval.

What supporters and critics say

Mahmood said the aim is to “restore fairness to our asylum system.” The government said arrests of people smugglers have risen 55% since it took office, asylum decisions are at a 24-year high and the number of people in asylum hotels has fallen almost 30%, the Guardian reports. In her opening speech, Mahmood cited about 94,000 people in asylum accommodation at a cost of £3.7 billion a year (gov.uk).

Critics came from both sides. Labour MP Nadia Whittome said there was “little evidence” the bill would solve the problems it targets. Labour MP Stella Creasy called the 30-month reassessment a “Diet Coke version of refugee status,” and Labour MP Tony Vaughan said poor Home Office decisions, not the tribunal, drive appeal numbers. The Conservatives opposed the bill, arguing it does not go far enough, and Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said leaving the European Convention on Human Rights remains necessary; his amendment was defeated. The Refugee Council’s briefing raised concerns about the appeals authority, the merged statuses, what it calls a “refugee tax,” and safe routes (Refugee Council).

Analysis: the second-reading vote shows a large majority in the Commons, and the bill’s tests will come in committee and the Lords, where amendments on appeals and Article 8 are possible. Andy Burnham, whom the Guardian called “prime minister-in-waiting” at the time, voted for the bill.

What happens next

Parliament returns from its conference recess on 12 October, and the committee resumes the next day. After its final sitting on 3 November, the bill returns to the full Commons for report stage. Dates beyond that have not been set on the bill page.

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Sources

• House of Commons Library, Immigration and Asylum Bill 2026 (CBP-10940), 8 July 2026.
• The Guardian, Andy Burnham backs controversial asylum bill amid Labour dissent, 13 July 2026.
• Home Office, Second reading opening speech, 13 July 2026.
• Refugee Council, July 2026 briefing on the bill.
• UK Parliament, Immigration and Asylum Bill.