The Times Editorial: Mahmood’s Migration “Success Story”; Burnham “Rowed Back”
The Times editorial this evening describes Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s migration programme as “one of [the government’s] few success stories”: the 171,000 net-migration figure for 2025 is the lowest since 2012. The drop, the paper argues, reflects the closure of the visa route for the dependants of students and the introduction of tougher minimum requirements for skilled work visas. The Times: “Mr Burnham, who initially echoed Ms Rayner’s sentiments, has rowed back. He appears to realise that the only way to defeat Reform UK in Makerfield, and across the country, is to recognise the visceral power of immigration on the doorstep.”
The Times also notes the irony that “just as Labour is mooting closer ties to the European Union, the figures show what can be done when sovereign immigration powers are wielded effectively”. The leader-page framing of Mahmood’s programme as “detoxifying” the immigration issue is the operational political test for the rest of the 18 June by-election campaign: if Reform UK’s “open-borders Andy” attack line continues to bite despite the falling figures, the political effect is on the Burnham leadership question rather than the migration question itself. Mahmood last month came bottom in a poll of Labour members testing cabinet-minister popularity.