How I know Shabana Mahmood really means it

The home secretary’s Blue Labour politics lie behind her asylum and immigration overhaul

Paul Embery is one of the most interesting, insightful and original voices to have emerged in British journalism for some time — Douglas Murray

Photo: Lauren Hurley / No 10 Downing Street, OGL 3, via Wikimedia Commons

We should beware of false prophets in politics; there are plenty of them about. How often do we hear politicians pledge to bring about radical change for the betterment of the country, only to flunk it and leave the electorate disillusioned?

Nowhere is this more the case than on the fraught topic of asylum and immigration, which has seen political leaders of all stripes repeatedly make bold promises to fix the broken system before eventually floundering and failing miserably.

So voters could be forgiven for rolling their eyes when they heard yet another home secretary vow this week to get a grip on the crisis.

Only this time, things might – just might – be different.

I have met Shabana Mahmood more than once. I first came across her at a roundtable discussion in parliament eight years ago. Then a thirty-something backbencher, Mahmood was confident and assured.