Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood.

Zack Polanski branded Labour “a government of cowards” as Shabana Mahmood faces a mounting backlash to her asylum plans.

The home secretary unveiled a raft of tough new measures aimed at slashing the number of immigrants entering the UK illegally.

They include making it easier to deport families with children, reducing the amount of state support they receive and massively increasing the time it takes to gain permanent residency in Britain.

Mahmood said the changes were necessary because rising immigration is fuelling racism and dividing communities.

But appearing on BBC’s Newsnight programme on Monday, Polanski said: “This is extreme, this is inhumane and it is a government of cowards.

“Rather than take on the........

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