ShareSavePaul SeddonPolitical reporterShareSavePA MediaHome Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to detail new policy that will see asylum seekers who break the law, or work illegally, being thrown out of government-funded accommodation and losing their support payments.
Mahmood is expected to make the "Labour case" for restricting assistance in a speech to the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) on Thursday, having just returned from a trip to Denmark which has a system the Home Office wants to move closer towards.
The Home Office says the changes, due to take effect in June, will also end payments to any asylum seekers who are able to support themselves, and instead limit free accommodation and support to "those who genuinely need it".
The Conservatives said Mahmood should go "much further", while the Green Party has accused her of echoing the rhetoric of the far right.
The home secretary has already unveiled several measures to toughen up the migration system ahead of her speech to the left-leaning think tank, including making refugee status temporary and stopping people from four countries applying for study visas
Her speech will be a pitch to those in her party who are sceptical of her approach, with Mahmood expected to emphasise that her changes would make the asylum system "compassionate but controlled".
Some left-wing Labour MPs are calling for the government to change its approach on migration in the wake of the party's defeat to the Greens at last week's by-election in Gorton and Denton.
But she will argue that "restoring order and control at our border is not a betrayal of Labour values, it is an embodiment of them".
The legislation to be published by the Home Office on Thursday will echo the approach taken to Denmark, and will include the removal of the current legal duty to guarantee support to those awaiting an asylum decision at risk of destitution.
Asylum seekers with the right to work - generally only granted after waiting for a decision for more than a year - could then be denied further assistance under the plans. as it will be judged they will now come under the banner of being someone with the means to support themselves.
The Home Office says this would also include those who lodge an asylum claim after entering the country on a visa that gives them a right to employment.
Those with assets could also be required to contribute to the cost of their accommodation, with ministers previously suggesting that cars and e-bikes would be treated as assets.
It remains unclear how many people would be affected by this change, as the department does not disclose how many asylum seekers are able to work in the UK.
The Refugee Council, a charity, has warned that the plans could lead to an uptick in rough sleeping, shifting costs to local councils and the NHS.
Imran Hussain, its director of external affairs, said speeding up slow decision-making was a "far more effective" way to reduce costs.
Just over 107,003 people in the UK were receiving taxpayer-funded asylum support at the end of last year, including around 30,000 in hotels.
The government has pledged to phase out the use of hotels by 2029, and plans to move people to lower-cost large sites including former military bases.
