TUC president and POA leader STEVE GILLAN speaks to Ben Chacko on the eve of Congress 2026
WE can learn a lot from those who experience and resist the British asylum system.
Under current rules, asylum-seekers are not permitted to work except in very rare “exceptional” circumstances. Neither are they allowed to claim normal welfare benefits, forcing them to rely on a tiny amount of state support.
That support is meagre at best: under £41 a week per person — less than £6 a day for essentials, let alone for activities where they and their children can make friends and integrate into communities.
Labour cannot win another election by accommodating racism, instead it should focus on finding solutions to social concerns that too often seek scapegoats, writes DIANE ABBOTT
ROY WILKES takes issue with those on the left who argue immigration lowers wages — dividing resident and migrant workers only strengthens capitalist exploitation
The government’s latest asylum proposals abandon labour movement values and fuel division by aping Reform UK, writes DIANE ABBOTT MP
DIANE ABBOTT warns that Shabana Mahmood’s draconian asylum proposals fuel racist scapegoating and risk demoralising Labour’s base – potentially paving the way for Farage to No 10


