VETERAN Labour politician Alf Dubs has slammed the government’s crackdown on migrant rights, backing the description of it as “un-British.”

Lord Dubs, himself a refugee who came to Britain aged six from Czechoslovakia to escape the Nazis, said the tough new rules being introduced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood would make “people who are here feel very uncertain and insecure.”

He told Politics Home that he had “never felt unable to be secure. I became a British citizen — I just signed a form,” he said.

Under Ms Mahmood’s controversial plans, the qualifying period for a migrant to secure leave to remain in the country will be doubled to 10 years, with a new 20-year baseline wait to be granted asylum.

Lord Dubs backed the “un-British” label used by former deputy premier Angela Rayner to describe the changes.

“She’s probably got it right. I think it’s very disappointing to do something retrospectively which weakens people’s rights,” he said.

Lord Dubs was due to introduce a challenge to the Cabinet’s plan in the House of Lords on the grounds that it “will make it harder for refugees to successfully integrate.”

The new law also “fails to restart the process for refugees to be reunited with their family members and prevents some students, including Chevening scholars, from taking up educational opportunities in the UK,” his motion said.

Liberal Democrat peer Mike German was also advancing a motion to oppose the clampdown on asylum-seekers.

Lord Dubs, a life-long campaigner for refugee rights, also claimed that he had less access to ministers in this government than under the Tories.

He accused ministers of chasing Reform voters, saying: “Populism can be a very tough business to fight against.

“But in the end, I think we have to approach human rights issues with certain principles. We have to say something is right and we stick by what is right.”

He believes that asylum-seekers should be given the right to work in Britain after six months in order to help them contribute to society and integrate.

There are persistent reports that PM Sir Keir Starmer will be forced to dilute Ms Mahmood’s proposed changes given the strength of opposition among Labour MPs.