LABOUR have been accused of having a “broken moral compass” after a senior figure refused to rule out sending asylum seekers back to Taliban-run Afghanistan.
The party’s shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth insisted that the Tories’ Rwanda scheme would not work as a deterrent to prevent people trying to come to the UK on BBC Newsnight.
Instead, he said Labour are “going to send people back” to the countries from which they are fleeing.
But he then proceeded to not engage with host Victoria Derbyshire when she repeatedly asked whether Labour would look to get a return agreement with the Taliban and with the Iranian regime, given figures show most asylum seekers arriving in the UK are from Afghanistan and Iran.
After several attempts to get him to answer the question, he eventually said: “Well, you look at each one on its merits, obviously.”
Scottish Greens MSP Maggie Chapman (below) described his comments as “abhorrent” and urged Labour to rule out the prospect of returns agreements with these regimes “immediately”.
She told The National: "The racist anti-migrant policies are one of the worst legacies of this Tory government, and many of us are concerned that Labour will keep the vast majority of them in place.
"The fact that they can't even bring themselves to rule out deporting refugees to a Taliban-run Afghanistan tells us everything we need to know about the party's broken moral compass and its disregard for the rights of some of the world's most vulnerable people.
"The Taliban is a vile regime with an appalling record. That's what every human rights group will say and is the reason Labour gave for joining the disastrous 20-year war in Afghanistan. Now they want us to treat the same regime as a legitimate government.
"If Labour wants to have any credibility on human rights and internationalism they will rule this out immediately and dismantle the hostile environment that has been built."
Nato left Afghanistan in 2021, quickly leading to the Taliban taking back power in the country.
The Taliban brought back bans on education for girls and laws stopping women from going to work.
The Taliban also banned women’s beauty salons, adding on laws that prevent women from being in public spaces like parks and gyms.
The SNP’s Stephen Flynn said that Labour were moving further and further towards a Reform-inspired position on immigration.
Former SNP MP Dr Philippa Whitford said the UK had treated people from Afghanistan appallingly, citing how the Ministry of Defence admitted earlier this month it was able to veto sanctuary applications from its Afghan counterparts to stop them coming to the UK.
Whitford said Ashworth’s comments did not convince her Labour were going to have an attitude any different to the Tories on immigration.
Asked what she thought of Ashworth’s comments, she told The National: “I think it’s terrifying.
“The UK has appalling let down people in Afghanistan, including people who have worked with the British Army in abandoning them to the Taliban, so having Labour being so soft and woolly on this language would suggest that they’re going to continue a similar approach.
“What we have seen even back in the 2019 election is Labour taking a much more anti-immigration stance.
“I’m not expecting a great change. They are triangulating the Tories on one policy after another.”
