Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has said she would taser and then deport all four of the main opposition leaders – and delivered a stinging rebuke to white liberals who she accused of trying to silence her over immigration, telling them to “f— right off.”
The remarks came at the Duchess Theatre in London, where Mahmood was in conversation with comedian Matt Forde for his Political Party podcast – a session that began with hecklers and ended with some of the most candid comments from a serving cabinet minister in recent memory.
‘Taser and then deport – all of them’
Asked by Forde which of the opposition leaders – Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch, Zack Polanski or Ed Davey – she would either taser or deport, Mahmood did not hesitate.
“I want to taser and then deport… all of them,” she said, to laughter from the audience.
The comment drew significant attention given that Polanski – the Green Party leader polling joint first nationally – has been among the most vocal critics of Mahmood’s immigration reforms, describing the government’s stance as indistinguishable from Reform UK’s. The inclusion of all four leaders in a single answer suggested equal enthusiasm for removing the lot.
The hecklers and the ‘white liberals’
The event began with disruption. Seconds in, a man in the audience accused Mahmood of “out-Reforming Reform” and was shouted down before being escorted out. A woman then rose to heckle before being removed.
Mahmood did not soften her response. She turned the accusation directly into an argument about race, identity and liberal condescension.
“I do think there is that element of it which is: ‘How dare you, a brown woman, say a thing that we white liberals think you’re not allowed to say?’ Well, I’m saying it,” she told the audience.
She named what she saw as the underlying assumption: “You’re trying to put me in a box, which includes a lot of people who think I don’t even belong in my own country. That’s why I said this individual can just f— right off, because I know I belong in my own country. You’re not going to be able to do that to me.”
She added: “I’m a proud Englishwoman. I’m a proud Brit, I’m a hugely proud Muslim. That is the absolute core of my life. I’m not going to let a tin-pot racist or some random heckler or anybody else claw away at the foundations of who I am as a person.”
Forde later posted on X that the hecklers had behaved like “posh yobs.”
‘Delegitimising millions of people’
Mahmood broadened her argument beyond the personal, accusing critics of delegitimising public concern about immigration rather than engaging with it.
“Claims that I was simply trying to copy the policies of Reform UK or the Conservatives were just a way of delegitimising the point of view that I bring to the table. But it’s also a way of delegitimising the perfectly valid, legitimate views of millions of people in this country, including ethnic minorities in this country.”
She warned of the consequences of dismissing those concerns: “Out there in the country, there is so much anger about the broken system that we are in danger of losing public consent for having a refugee system. Full stop.”
The reforms causing a Labour rebellion
Mahmood is currently facing significant internal opposition over two specific proposals. The first would force migrants arriving to work, study or seek asylum to wait an average of ten years – rather than five – before qualifying for indefinite leave to remain. The second would make refugee status temporary, reviewed every 30 months, with those from countries deemed safe asked to leave.
Her political argument is that without such reforms, the immigration system loses legitimacy entirely – and that pretending otherwise is the preserve of those comfortable enough to ignore what is being said on the doorsteps.
Whether that argument is enough to prevent the Labour rebellion from forcing concessions on the legislation remains to be seen. What Monday’s event demonstrated is that Mahmood has no intention of retreating from the substance – or the tone – of her position.
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