Kuenssberg presses further on whether somebody in the UK "for the right reasons" might be returned at any moment.

Mahmood reiterates that the government will be changing this to a temporary process, with asylum being reviewed every 2.5 years.

There will be fairness as well, including new legal routes.

She is now asked about bureaucracy in the home office, to which she insists it is her job to make things work.

We want the system back in order, says Mahmood.

Laura Kuenssberg starts by asking Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood if the government's proposed changes to the asylum system could see someone "booted" out after building a life in the UK for 19 years.

Illegal migration is "dividing" the country and putting "huge pressure on communities" says Mahmood.

She says it's important to deal with this issue and her proposed measures are designed to "restore order and control".

The government wants to reduce arrivals, increase removals and establish new "safe and legal routes", she adds.

• For context: The home secretary is due to announce tomorrow that those granted asylum in the UK will have to wait 20 years before they can apply to settle permanently. Refugees will have their status reviewed regularly after two-and-a-half years, and if their home country is deemed safe, they will be told to return.

Image source, PA Media

• Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress (TUC)
• Journalist and presesnter, Mariella Frostrup
• British entrepreneur Steve Rigby

They'll be joining Laura Kuenssberg to discuss all of today's interviews.

Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg has just begun.

After a short chat with today's panel, who we can bring you more on in our next post, she'll be sitting down with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

We'll be bringing you live updates right here, stay with us.

Image source, PA Media

This week's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg is just minutes away.

We'll be hearing from Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, shadow home secretary Chris Philp and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey.

Lord Tony Hall, a former director general of the BBC, will also be on the show. He'll be discussing the row with US president Donald Trump that has embroiled the BBC this week.

The opening credits will start at 09:00 GMT and you can follow along by clicking watch live at the top of this page.

Laura Kuenssberg
Presenter, Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg

Frustrated and disbelieving might politely sum up the mood of some in government this week, but - pardon my French - some senior Labour figures are frankly "pissed off and eye-rolling".

The Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is preparing big new plans to tackle illegal immigration. The Chancellor Rachel Reeves is locked away with aides in the final stages of planning a heavy Budget.

Those two big acts could be what defines this troubled government this winter. Instead, all too often it's being defined by spectacular mishaps of their own making.

When Shabana Mahmood joins us on the show she'll demonstrate why No 10 picked her for the post of home secretary - the expectation she'd take a tougher line than her predecessor on immigration and that, as her backers want her to be seen, she is a "woman in a hurry".

But how can the arguments be made successfully when the last seven days seem to have displayed, according to one senior figure, that "basically, there isn't a competent political operation" in Downing Street?

• You can read more about No 10's self-inflicted chaos in my full piece

Image source, PA Media

We've taken a look at other key headlines from this week:

• There's been friction at the top of Labour after journalists received anonymous briefings on Tuesday that cabinet ministers, including Wes Streeting, were plotting leadership challenges, which Streeting then strongly denied
• Ahead of the Budget, there have been rumours about how Rachel Reeves may look to raise revenue. There were heavy hints that the chancellor was preparing to break a manifesto pledge and raise income tax - but Reeves later decided against it, government sources said
• Donald Trump says he will take legal action against the BBC "probably sometime next week" over the way his speech on 6 January 2021 was edited by Panorama, after the corporation apologised but refused to compensate him

Matt Spivey
Live editor

We're less than an hour away from Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

This morning, attention has been focussed on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's asylum policy announcement on Monday.

But we'll also hear from shadow home secretary Chris Philp and Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey on the show.

Before Kuenssberg gets under way, we're taking a look back at other key stories that may crop up.

Stay with us.

More than 39,000 people have arrived in the UK by small boats in 2025, according to the latest Home Office figures.

According to government data, 1,069 migrants arrived in the UK in the last seven days.

How many people have died trying to make the crossing?

So far in 2025, 36 migrants are recorded as dead or missing after attempting to cross from mainland Europe to the UK, according to UN agency the International Organization for Migration, external.

It estimates that at least 82 migrants died in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record.

How do UK small boat arrivals compare with those to Europe?

Italy received more than a third of arrivals by sea, of which there were were almost 189,000 in Europe during 2024.

As of 9 November, there had been 135,394 arrivals by sea since the start of 2025, with the majority (61,265) recorded in Italy - compared to the UK's 36,734.

Image source, EPA

The deal was announced in July and pilot scheme will run until June 2026.

The first flight carrying a small boat migrant took place in September.

How does it work?

France agreed to take back migrants who travelled to the UK by small boat and had their asylum claim withdrawn or declared inadmissible.

For each person returned to France, the UK will accept someone with a case for protection as a refugee who has not tried to cross the Channel.

How much does it cost?

The UK has agreed to pay the costs of flying failed asylum seekers out of the country and bringing successful applicants in. However, the government has not put a figure on the cost.

How many people have been sent back so far?

The Home Office has told the BBC that 113 migrants have been returned to France and 92 people have arrived in the UK under the scheme.

Enver Solomon, chief executive at the Refugee Council, tells the BBC he has concerns over the home secretary's asylum plans: "It's just going to leave people in limbo and intense anxiety for many, many years."

"We absolutely need to secure and control our borders but you don't achieve that by reforms that are frankly not going to stop the boats," he tells BBC Breakfast.

Denmark - whose asylum system has inspired the reforms proposed by the home secretary - "is very different to the UK" says Solomon. The UK has "connections around the globe where there are places where there is war" that he says lead more people to seek asylum here.

Solomon calls for the government to focus instead on why people are fleeing and to ensure its "one in, one out" scheme with France "actually works" - we'll have more on this in our next post.

Image source, EPA

Conservatives

• They want to task officials with removing 750,000 illegal immigrants within five years - taking inspiration from Donald Trump's US administration
• The Tories also pledge to ban people who enter the UK without permission from ever claiming asylum
• They also want to end the 75-year membership with European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in a bid to thwart asylum appeals

Reform UK

• Along with leaving the ECHR, Reform UK has pledged a mass deportation of those who enter the UK on small boats
• Party leader Nigel Farage suggested earlier this year that 600,000 migrants could be deported within five years if Reform UK were in government
• They also vow to abolish the right of all migrants to qualify for permanent settlement in the UK after five years

Liberal Democrats

• They say they would use wartime powers to clear the asylum backlog and reduce the amount of hotels used to house asylum seekers
• Lib Dem leader Ed Davey has also advocated providing help to refugees abroad, to remove the need to come to the UK
• Davey also wants to give asylum seekers permission to work while they wait for their claims to be processed

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Mahmood is said to be impressed with Denmark’s asylum system, introduced in 2016, which has seen successful claims driven down to a 40-year-low, excluding pandemic-hit 2020.

Last month she dispatched senior Home Office officials to Copenhagen to study what lessons could be applied to the UK.

In Denmark, refugees are given temporary residence permits, typically of two years, and in effect have to reapply for asylum when they expire.

Even for those who are allowed to extend multiple times, the route to citizenship has grown longer and harder.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce a major shake-up to asylum policy on Monday, as the government seeks to reduce small boat crossings and asylum claims.

Under the plans:

• People granted asylum in the UK will have to wait 20 years before before they can apply to settle permanently
• Those granted asylum in the UK will have their refugee status regularly reviewed, and those whose home countries are deemed safe will be told to return
• Mahmood wants to cut this initial period after which refugee status is regularly reviewed, from five years to two-and-a-half years

The policy has been copied from Denmark, where refugees are given temporary residence permits, typically of two years, and in effect have to re-apply for asylum when they expire.

As a reminder, at this stage we do not know many more details and it is not yet clear how the proposed plans will work in practice.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

The home secretary is set to announce a shake-up to asylum policy on Monday, under which people granted asylum in the UK will have to wait 20 years before they can apply to settle permanently.

Currently refugee status lasts for five years, after which people can apply for indefinite leave to remain.

Now, Shabana Mahmood wants to cut the initial period from five years to two-and-a-half years, after which refugee status will be regularly reviewed.

The policy has been copied from Denmark, where a government led by the centre-left Social Democrats has presided over one of the toughest asylum and immigration systems in Europe.

Mahmood will be facing questions on BBC's Laura Kuenssberg this morning ahead of her announcement this week.

We'll be bringing you the key lines throughout the morning, stick with us.