The UK government is examining Denmark’s tough approach to border control and asylum as it prepares a major overhaul of immigration policy, Sky News understands.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood sent officials to Copenhagen last month to study the Nordic country’s system—widely regarded as among the strictest in Europe. They focused in particular on Denmark’s tighter rules on family reunification and its practice of offering most refugees only temporary protection.
Mahmood is expected to unveil sweeping changes to the UK immigration system later this month, according to the PA news agency. But the proposals have already exposed divisions within Labour. MPs in marginal “Red Wall” constituencies, nervous about pressure from Reform UK, are urging ministers to go further down the Danish path. Others warn that adopting such policies risks alienating progressive voters and pushing Labour to the political right.
Denmark’s approach
Denmark has tightened migration rules in recent years. Most asylum and refugee statuses are temporary, and residency can be revoked once an applicant’s home country is judged safe. Securing long-term settlement requires full-time employment, and the qualifying period has been extended.
Family reunification rules are also more restrictive: both partners must be at least 24, the sponsor must not have claimed welfare benefits for three years, and a financial guarantee is required. Applicants must also pass a Danish language test.
The country caused controversy in 2018 with its so-called “ghetto package,” which targeted areas where over half the population were immigrants or descendants of immigrants from non-Western countries. Measures included demolishing social housing and redeveloping neighbourhoods. In 2021, Denmark passed a law allowing refugees arriving on Danish soil to be relocated to asylum centres in a partner country—an idea explored with Rwanda, though it remains on hold.
UK pressures mount
The UK government continues to struggle with rising small-boat crossings in the Channel. On Friday alone, 648 people arrived in nine boats, bringing the annual total to 38,223. The Home Office also faced embarrassment after a migrant deported under its returns agreement with France reportedly re-entered the UK.
Mahmood has said she wants stronger deterrents to discourage people from attempting to reach the UK via irregular routes, as well as faster removal of those without a legal right to stay. Sources say she is keen to meet Denmark’s immigration minister, Rasmus Stoklund, “at the earliest possible opportunity.”
Stoklund, speaking to BBC Radio 4, described Denmark as “a small country” that expects newcomers to “participate and contribute positively,” adding: “If they don’t, they aren’t welcome.”
Labour split
Labour’s internal tensions surfaced on Saturday. Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, told Radio 4’s *Today* programme that reforms aimed at restoring “fairness” to a system his constituents “don’t trust” were “worth exploring.”
But Nadia Whittome, MP for Nottingham East and a member of Labour’s Socialist Campaign Group, warned that the government risked drifting towards “policies of the far right,” adding: “I don’t think anyone wants to see a Labour government flirting with them.” Photo by UK Home Office, uploaded by Opihuck, Wikimedia commons.
