Key events
UK puts emergency brake on study visas for four countries’ nationals
Nadeem Badshah
The government has imposed an emergency brake on visas for the first time on nationals from four countries, as Shabana Mahmood accused them of exploiting Britain’s generosity to claim asylum.
Study visas for nationals from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan have been halted, in addition to work visas for Afghans.
The home secretary claimed a growing number of people from these countries were using legal migration routes as a back door to claim asylum in the UK.
Mahmood said on Tuesday: “Britain will always provide refuge to people fleeing war and persecution, but our visa system must not be abused.
“That is why I am taking the unprecedented decision to refuse visas for those nationals seeking to exploit our generosity. I will restore order and control to our borders.”
According to Home Office figures, 39% of the 100,000 people who claimed asylum in 2025 did so after arriving in the UK through a legal migration route such as a study visa.
Minister dismisses Trump’s claim that Keir Starmer is ‘no Churchill’
Hello and welcome to the UK politics live blog.
A government minister has dismissed Donald Trump’s claim that Keir Starmer is no “Winston Churchill”, arguing that the prime minister had approached the situation with a “cool head, a real clarity of purpose” and “a determination to do the right thing for the British people”.
In his latest extraordinary salvo, the US president said he was not happy with the UK even though the prime minister eventually agreed the US could use Diego Garcia for strikes on Iranian missile facilities.
It was the third time in 24 hours that Trump had criticised Starmer for the UK’s refusal to aid the initial strikes, underlining his frustration at western allies for not unequivocally backing the action.
Asked whether the US president was right, chief Secretary to the Treasury, James Murray told Times Radio:
No, look, president Trump has expressed his disagreement with the decision that we took about joining those initial strikes on Iran over the weekend.
But I think what’s really important when we think about that decision is to recognise that the prime minister took the decision he did in the national interest, you know, and he’s approached this with a cool head, with a real clarity of purpose, with a real focus and a determination to do the right thing for the British people.
That’s why we took the decision we did not to join those offensive actions, the initial strikes, a few days ago, but then when it came to a defensive action in order to protect British citizens, we stepped up and made sure that we are doing what we need to do to keep British people safe.
Trump told the Sun on Monday that the “relationship is obviously not what it was” as a result of the decision, and in an interview with the Telegraph he said Starmer had taken far too long to allow the US to use UK bases.
Starmer has previously been praised for his ability to maintain a relationship with the volatile US president, but on Monday in the Commons, he expressed doubt about the US action in Tehran and its legality.
Asked whether he did not think Trump’s remarks were important, Murray said:
Well, I think, you know, the president has expressed himself using his words, but what’s important for me is that the prime minister is taking the right decisions for the UK, and, of course, that the special relationship between the US and the UK continues. You know, we work together with the US, day in, day out.
In other developments:
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A Royal Navy destroyer is expected in Cyprus next week after Keir Starmer announced it would be sent to defend the country and British bases there after hostile drones targeted RAF Akrotiri on Monday.
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The UK government will charter a flight from Oman in the coming days, prioritising vulnerable British nationals in the region amid continued strikes by Iran, the foreign secretary has said. Yvette Cooper said the closure of the airspace and the threat of strikes from Iran, retaliating for US-Israeli attacks, meant the situation was “fast-moving”.
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The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, insisted Labour had “the right economic plan” for a world that had become “yet more uncertain” as she delivered a spring forecast that downgraded growth for this year. The UK faces weaker economic growth and higher unemployment than previously expected.
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A new YouGov poll showed a surge in support for the Green party, which climbed to second place (behind Reform) as Labour slumped to its lowest figure to date.