Home secretary tells Farage to ‘sod off’ after invite to join Reform

Shabana Mahmood has told Nigel Farage to “sod off” after he accused her of copying his policies on curbing illegal migration, even making a tongue-in-cheek offer to her to join his party.

The home secretary responded angrily to a series of jibes by the Reform leader in response to her controversial new proposals, telling Sky News: “Nigel Farage can sod off. I am not interested in anything he has to say.”

Ms Mahmood gave the same response when challenged about her proposals being backed by the far-right activist Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, saying: “He can sod off too.”

It is the second time in less than 24 hours that the outspoken home secretary has used profane language in defending the government’s latest attempt to reduce the number of asylum seekers.

Accused in the Commons by Liberal Democrat MP Max Wilkinson of fuelling racial tensions, Ms Mahmood, whose parents immigrated to the UK from Pakistan, shot back: “I wish I had the privilege of walking around this country and not seeing the division that the issue of migration and asylum system is creating across this country.

“Unlike him, unfortunately, I am the one that is regularly called a f***ing P*** and told to go back home.”

It came as Ms Mahmood unveiled a raft of hardline measures on Monday aimed at discouraging asylum seekers and making it easier to remove those who have no right to remain in the country.

Her retort to Mr Farage came after he had reacted to her proposals to slash immigration by releasing a provocative statement that said: “The home secretary sounds like a Reform supporter.”

Asked about his remarks, Ms Mahmood told Sky News: “I’m not really interested in anything that Nigel Farage has to say. I think that there are various individuals, at the moment, that are seeking to make mischief.”

She added: “Honestly, Nigel Farage can sod off. I’m not interested in anything he’s got to say.”

Pressed on whether she was comfortable with comparisons being made between Labour and Reform, Ms Mahmood said: “He’s making mischief, so I’m not going to let him live rent-free in my head. Just because he said something doesn’t mean to say that I have to respond to it.

She added: “The Reform Party currently has a policy to rip up indefinite leave to remain for those who have been long-term settled in our country. That is immoral. It’s deeply shameful, and it is the wrong policy.”

When asked about Tommy Robinson’s backing of Labour’s asylum plans, Ms Mahmood added: “That individual – he can sod off too.”

The home secretary’s plans have come under fierce attack from as many as 20 Labour MPs.

Folkestone and Hythe MP Tony Vaughan, a former immigration lawyer, said that ministers’ rhetoric “encourages the same culture of divisiveness that sees racism and abuse growing in our communities”, and warned: “We have taken the wrong turning.”

Mr Vaughan said that plans to review refugees’ status every few years would divert “huge amounts of resources away from making our asylum system work”.

Sarah Owen, chair of the women and equalities committee, labelled the policies “repugnant”, while Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, said the changes were “performatively cruel”, adding: “It doesn’t have to be like this. There is a better way forward, rooted in Labour values, that also ensures control at our borders.”

But Ms Mahmood has won further support from Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, who has vowed to back aspects of the government’s plans.

Map: Where 25cm of snow is forecast to hit UK this week in Met Office warning

An amber weather warning has been issued as parts of the UK are set to see as much as 25cm of snowfall this week as temperatures plunge in the first cold snap of the winter.

The Met Office has warned that the next seven days will be “markedly colder” than it was last week, with “harsh frost” and snow expected on some days.

Parts of Yorkshire including York and Scarborough are now subject to an amber weather warning from 5am to 9pm on Thursday, with travel delays and power cuts likely.

The forecaster has issued multiple yellow weather warnings for snow and ice affecting parts of Scotland and northern England from Monday to Thursday, with sub-zero temperatures expected.

Three are in place on Tuesday, while four cover northern Scotland, the south west, and the east coast on Thursday. Forecasters have warned of potential snowfall in Wales, Yorkshire, and norther Scotland towards the end of the week.

It comes as yellow and amber health alerts from the UK Health Security Agency for cold weather came into place on Monday.

The amber warning is in place for the North East, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber, while a yellow alert is in place for the rest of England until 8am on Saturday.

Wet weather is expected across Scotland, Northern Ireland, and northern and western parts of England and Wales on Tuesday.

“With that cold air we have across us, no wonder we are going to see some sleet and snow mixed in with that as well,” Met office meteorologist Alex Burkill said.

Icy patches are expected across the country on Tuesday, which may lead to some “difficult, slippery conditions”, and parts of Scotland may see snow.

He continued: “There is an area of low pressure that’s pushing its way southwards as we go through Tuesday night and into Wednesday, and that’s bringing the focus for that burst of showery rain, with a bit of sleet, bit of hill snow mixed in, but a lot of that is going to be clearing away towards the south as we go through the morning.”

Temperatures for much of the UK will be down “a couple of degrees” on Wednesday, including across the south where it will turn colder than average for this time of year.

Deputy Chief Forecaster Tom Crabtree explained: “Wednesday to Friday will be the coldest part of the week, and this period has the greatest potential for impactful weather, with multiple warnings in place.

“Overnight, temperatures could get down to minus ten, with a significant wind chill from the strong northerly wind making things feel even colder.

“I’m not sure how much wintry stuff we’re going to see across the southern areas, mostly just falling as rain.”

He added: “Northern parts of Scotland seeing plenty, and also down the eastern side of England and eastern Scotland as well – plenty of these rain, sleet and snow showers.”

By Wednesday, most of the country will be under a cold Arctic airmass, with a strong and cold flow making temperatures feel colder. There are four yellow snow and ice warnings in place covering northern Scotland, the east coast from Newcastle to Hull, and southwest Wales and parts of Devon and Cornwall.

Two yellow ice warnings are in place covering the southwest and northwest and central Scotland.

Deputy Chief Forecaster Tom Crabtree said this would be the coldest part of the week, with temperatures expected to get down to minus ten.

Wintry snow showers are expected to extend south through Wednesday and into Thursday, mainly affecting north facing coastal areas.

Forecasters said the North York Moors and parts of the Yorkshire Wolds could potentially receive 15-25 cm of snow by Thursday, warning of potential disruption. Yellow snow and ice warnings remain in place for the east coast from Newcastle to Hull, northern Scotland, and southwest Wales and parts of Devon and Cornwall.

Mr Crabtree said: “With sub-zero temperatures in the first ‘cold snap’ of the year, updates to the current warnings are possible, so its important people keep up to date with the forecast.”

Ex-Liverpool star facing bankruptcy battle after row with brother

Former Premier League star Steve Finnan is facing an attempt to make him bankrupt following a marathon legal battle sparked by a multi-million pound row with his brother.

Mr Finnan, who won the Champions League with Liverpool, ended up embroiled in almost a decade of legal strife after getting involved in a disastrous property business with his brother, Sean.

After he became concerned about the way the business was being run around 2016, he sued Sean, before eventually securing a £4m settlement at the High Court in 2018.

But the footballer did not get his money, instead having his brother made bankrupt in July 2019, before getting involved in a series of court fights with his solicitors.

One such case – an attempt to have a Charles Russell Speechlys lawyer jailed for contempt of court during a failed £6m negligence claim against the firm – ended in him facing a five-figure costs bill.

However, the Irish former fullback has not paid his debt and is now facing a petition to make him bankrupt at Central London County Court.

He became embroiled in further litigation with the solicitors who took over his case, Candey Ltd, after disputing their bills for taking it on, losing that dispute too.

Earlier this month, the case went to the High Court, where he tried to appeal earlier orders in the bankruptcy case, but was told by a judge that he was only “delaying” things with a “hopeless” appeal.

“I form the strong view that this appeal simply amounts to an attempt on his part to delay the final hearing of this petition for as long as possible,” said Mr Justice Mellor.

Limerick-born Mr Finnan, 49, enjoyed a stellar Premier League career with Fulham, Liverpool and Portsmouth, winning Champions League and FA Cup medals, as well as playing more than 50 times for his country.

The bankruptcy petition was ultimately transferred to Central London County Court, where District Judge Carla Revere, in June made a series of directions and orders relating to the case.

However, Mr Finnan lodged an appeal against part of the order which recorded the transfer of the case to the county court, with the result that the September date for the final hearing in the bankruptcy case had to be cancelled.

Representing himself, he argued that the case is too “complex” to be decided by the county court and should instead be elevated to a High Court judge, given the amounts of money involved in the background.

He also claimed “apparent bias” against him by District Judge Revere and questioned whether she had the power to make orders which she did.

But rejecting his appeal, Mr Justice Mellor said the bankruptcy petition itself did not involve the millions of pounds which feature elsewhere in his disputes – but instead a costs order of under £50,000.

“Standing back, it is surprising that Mr Finnan has challenged this directions order… his complaints are largely procedural and have no substance,” he said.

“I refuse permission to appeal and I dismiss the appeal. I also certify this appeal is totally without merit. It was, at all times, completely hopeless.

“The petition will have to be the subject of further directions. I think they’re best given by a judge in the insolvency list.

“It is highly likely that any such further order for directions will repeat the directions in District Judge Revere’s order.”

No date was set for the bankruptcy case to return to court.

Jon Stewart on why he ‘knows’ Trump’s name is in Epstein emails

Jon Stewart has addressed Donald Trump’s appearance in the Jeffrey Epstein emails, claiming: “You know it’s real because his allies are working overtime to distract.”

On Monday’s episode of The Daily Show, the late-night host broached the subject of “the very normal and not shady handling of the Epstein files”, which could be released if a House of Representatives vote is passed on Tuesday, 18 November.

Many of the recently released emails mention Trump, who was friends with the disgraced financier decades ago, including one in which the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein claimed the president “knew about the girls”.

However, Trump, who said he would sign a bill to release the files if passed, told reporters last week that he “knows nothing” about the emails.

Stewart said: “This Epstein thing is no Democrat hoax, and you know it’s real because Trump’s allies are working overtime to distract, or in the case of Fox News, not even a mention.

“When the emails came out, Fox devoted most of their airtime to such urgent matters as: the socialist takeover of Seattle, the Treasury phasing out the penny, the Northern Lights, the growing popularity of Christian music, and, as always, Kamala Harris goes crazy for carbs.”

He added the president is “flailing” when asked about the emails, stating: “If he had nothing to hide, he could have declassified and released these files at any time, and how do I know this? He said so.”

Stewart then presented a clip of Trump saying on Fox News in September 2022: “If you’re the president of the United States, you can declassify just by saying, ‘It’s declassified.’”

The host levelled that Trump’s inclusion in the Epstein emails is not evidence of guilt.

The House of Representatives is expected to vote on a bill to force the Justice Department to release files related to Epstein.

Trump confirmed Monday (17 November) that he would sign the bill if it passes the House and Senate – but maintained he had “nothing to do with” Epstein, who died by suicide in August 2019 while awaiting trial on sex trafficking charges.

“We have nothing to do with Epstein,” he said. “The Democrats do. All of his friends were Democrats.”

Warning over ‘brain drain’ as number of Britons leaving UK revealed

Keir Starmer has been urged to tackle a “dangerous brain drain” harming the UK economy just days before next week’s make-or-break Budget after official figures showed the number of Britons leaving the UK is far higher than previously thought.

A total of 257,000 British nationals are now thought to have left the country last year – 180,000 more than the initial estimate of just 77,000, according to the statistics, which also revealed net migration reached a new record high.

In the three years between the end of 2021 and the end of 2024, a total of 344,000 more Brits emigrated than previously thought, after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) updated its methodology.

The extent of people leaving the UK comes as a blow to Sir Keir just a week before his government’s crucial Budget, amid claims Downing Street is panicking to save his premiership.

Karl Williams, research director at the Centre for Policy Studies think tank, told The Independent the figures pointed to “an alarming brain drain, with net emigration of British nationals both much higher than previously thought – and accelerating”.

“This new data supports the mountain of anecdotal evidence about young people increasingly moving abroad to places like Dubai and Australia for better wages, lower taxes and cheaper housing,” he added. “Britain urgently needs to stop penalising wealth creators, start bulding houses and take action to bear down on the cost of living, otherwise the loss of some of our most productive workers – and highest taxpayers – will only continue.”

The shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said: “Britain is now confronting a dangerous brain drain. Many of our brightest young people, teachers, doctors and innovators are looking abroad – and many wealth creators have already left.”

The Conservative frontbencher said they were being driven out by “Labour’s punishing taxes and policies that suffocate ambition. These are the people who power growth and fund our public services, and once they go, they take opportunity with them.Labour must reverse course now, before the talent Britain relies on is lost for good.”

Meanwhile, the British Medical Association told The Independent it was “very concerned” about the UK’s ability to keep doctors in the country. It pointed to a General Medical Council report which suggested that more than 4,000 doctors left the UK to practise abroad last year.

The figures follow claims that as many as 16,500 millionaires would leave the UK this year in response to tax changes and a lack of confidence in the faltering economy. The Henley Private Wealth Migration Report forecast that the UK would lose twice as many as China, and 10 times as many as Russia.

A poll carried out for the British Council last year found nearly three-quarters (72 per cent) of UK based 18–30-year-olds would consider living and working in another country in the short or long term, moving mainly for better job opportunities and quality of life. The most popular destinations were Australia, the USA, Canada and Italy.

Estimates were previously based on the ‘International Passenger Survey’, but this had a very small sample size and had been “stretched beyond its original purpose” so was no longer reliable, the ONS said.

The estimates are now produced using more comprehensive data from the Department for Work and Pensions, which looks at everyone with a National Insurance number and can be used to determine their likely migration status.

Ben Brindle, from the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: “Older research suggests that Brits tend to migrate to other high-income countries, especially English-speaking ones, and that most are working age. However, this is one of the areas of migration where we have the least data on people’s characteristics.”

The ONS also announced that net migration was 944,000 in the year ending March 2023, 38,000 more than estimated, as it reached a higher peak that previously thought and then fell faster in 2024 following the tightening of visa rules. Net migration is the difference between the number of people moving long-term to the UK and the number leaving.

The new statistics come as the Labour home secretary Shabana Mahmood came under fire for unveiling a raft of controversial hardline measures on Monday designed to discourage asylum seekers and make it easier to remove those who have no right to remain in the country.

But there was good news for Ms Mahmood, as the figures also showed that, more recently, net migration – the number coming to the UK minus those who leave – fell further than previously thought. In the year ending December 2024, the figure was 345,000, lower than the previous estimate of 431,000.

Earlier, a Labour peer accused Ms Mahmoodof using “children as a weapon” in her asylum system proposals.

Lord Alf Dubs, asked about arguments that asylum seekers are using their children to ‘thwart removal’, told the BBC’s Today programme: “I think that’s a theoretical statement – I just don’t accept that.”

He added: “To use children as a weapon, as the home secretary is doing, I think is a shabby thing – I’m lost for words, frankly, because my concern was that if we remove people who come here, what happens if they’ve had children in the meantime? What are we supposed to do with children who are born here, who’ve been to school here, who are part of our community, our society? We can’t just say, ‘oh well, out you go because your parents don’t claim to be here’.”

Ten compelling reasons to have your next adventure in Missouri

Missouri is the true heart of America, surrounded by eight states and roughly halfway between the north and south of the country. Known for its breathtaking national parks, sizzling barbecue, and even hotter jazz and sports scene, Missouri has more than meets the eye.

Springfield celebrates 100 years of the “Mother Road” in 2026. The birthplace of the famous 2,448-mile highway will host a music concert, vintage car parade and family events. Missouri’s Route 66 highlights include Meramec Caverns (once a hideout for the infamous Jesse James), St. Robert Route 66 Neon Park, where refurbished original neon signs are on display, and Red Oak II, which is both an art installation and living museum.

visitmo.com/in-the-spotlight/route-66

You’d be forgiven for not knowing that sliced bread was invented in Chillicothe, Missouri, which is why this charming museum celebrates the pioneers who brought sliced bread to the world in 1928. The Sliced Bread Innovation Center includes a replica of the first slicing machine and a bread-themed escape room. Located on the “Way of American Genius,” or Highway 36 as your Sat Nav might call it, the scenic 200-mile route connects picturesque towns linked with American innovation, including Walt Disney’s childhood home and the town that inspired many of Mark Twain’s novels.

thehomeofslicedbread.com

americangeniushighway.com

St. Louis Gateway Arch might be the tallest arch in the world at 192m, but it’s located in America’s smallest national park of just 91 acres. Completed in 1965 in the heart of downtown St. Louis, the arch symbolises the westward expansion of the United States. A tram of small cylindrical pods carries visitors to the apex where they’re greeted with panoramic views across the Mississippi River and state of Missouri beyond.

gatewayarch.com

Ozark National Scenic Riverways is one of Missouri’s best spots for spending the day on the water. The riverways are comprised of 134-miles of federally protected winding river, springs, caves, and forests. Wallow in the crystal-clear waters of the Current and Jacks Fork Rivers and camp at the beautiful Alley Spring Campground. While you’re there, hike to see the beautiful spring and the big, red, century-old mill that sits on its bank. Go to a local outfitter to get a canoe, kayak or inflatable tube to float downstream.

nps.gov/ozar

Illegal gambling, prohibition speakeasies and a rowdy jazz scene christened Kansas City as the “Paris of the Plains” in the 1920s, but these days the grand boulevards and Beaux-Arts architecture combine with modern additions that give Kansas City a spirit of its own. Follow the bassline to 18th and Vine Jazz District or seek out a potent Rendezvous cocktail and live jazz at VOO Lounge, inside the historic Muehlebach Hotel.

vookansascity.com

Kansas City and St. Louis are known for their legendary barbecue joints, but you can get mouthwatering meals outside the big city. Roadside shacks like Missouri Hick BBQ in Cuba, Missouri, serve pulled pork and slaw on Route 66, or stop for slow cooked ribs at Wabash BBQ in Excelsior Springs, housed in the old train depot. Missouri is renowned for its spicy rub and thick, sweet and smokey tomato-based barbecue sauce, especially slathered over the “burnt ends” of beef brisket.

missourihick.com

wabashbbq.com

Known as “The Cave State,” with more than 7,500 caves hidden within its limestone rocks, Missouri’s landscape holds many treasures. At Mark Twain Cave in Hannibal, wander the subterranean labyrinths that inspired part of The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. Marvel Cave, located under Silver Dollar City in Branson, is the state’s deepest cave. It’s main cavern, the Cathedral Room, is so massive it once held three hot air balloons.

marktwaincave.com

With over 115 wineries and eight wine trails, you won’t get thirsty. Van Till Winery in Rayville is Missouri’s first regenerative vineyard and sustainably produces around 25 wines, including a full-bodied dry red pressed from the official state grape, Norton. Make a day of it and sip your way along the Northwest Missouri Wine Trail, visiting nine wineries nearby.

vantillfarms.com

missouriwine.org

The Pony Express, America’s first horsepowered mail delivery service, originated in Missouri, but RS Ranch Trail Rides in Bourbon offers more leisurely horseback fun. Follow outlaw trails on a native Foxtrotter horse, hop aboard a hayride, or get back to nature with a cowboy-style Chuckwagon cookout under the stars.

rsranchrides.com

Missouri and sports go together like ribs and sauce, which means baseball, hockey, American football and even soccer are a big deal. As Kansas City gears up to host World Cup 2026, you can catch a game every season at one of the state’s two professional soccer teams or many league matches. Kansas City Current proudly plays in CPKC Stadium, the first stadium in the world purpose-built for a women’s professional sports team.

kansascityfwc26.com

kansascitycurrent.com

stlcitysc.com

Inside the scandals of the school WhatsApp group – and what you really can’t say

A couple who were “unlawfully arrested” for criticising their daughter’s primary school on a parent WhatsApp group have received a £20,000 payout from Hertfordshire Police.

Times Radio producer Maxie Allen, 50, and his partner Rosalind Levine, 46, were stunned when they were led away by six uniformed police officers in January on suspicion of harassment and malicious communications and detained by police for 11 hours, after the school reported them.

Cowley Hill Primary School in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, had already raised concerns to police over receiving high volumes of emails and calls, and negative social media posts, before police arrested them after the WhatsApp group criticism. Allen said that when they looked back on the parents’ group chat, the “spiciest thing” they could find was when Levine called a senior figure in the school a “control freak”. After a five-week investigation, Hertfordshire Constabulary concluded there was no case to answer.

The school WhatsApp is always pure drama – and often as gripping as The Traitors. You’re always on edge, wondering who is in, who is out and what is going to blow up next.

The worst scandal to hit me was when it looked like I’d defaced a photograph of another person’s child with coloured squiggles on the reception class WhatsApp when all the parents had posted festive shots of their children on Christmas Day.

“Why would somebody do this?” the mum messaged on the group chat. “Have you considered that maybe it’s a mistake before you jump to conclusions?” said another. “Well, why hasn’t she replied then?” another mum asked.

By the time a friend alerted me to the explosive situation by texting me “Have you seen the class WhatsApp?”, it had been going on for hours. I couldn’t understand how it had happened – until I remembered I’d handed my daughter Liberty, then five, my phone to show her the lovely photos of her classmates, and she must have accidentally pressed the wrong buttons.

I said: “Sorry, it is a mistake – Liberty must have unknowingly pressed the phone edit tool.”

Working parents like me end up drowning in the ping after ping of “friendly reminders” about bringing in wellness vouchers for hampers and signing up to accompany the class on swimming trips.

Then if you share a strong opinion about something – or you threaten to upstage another parent on the front line – you can get shamed and end up feeling like you’re hauled up on Prime Minister’s Questions, for daring to suggest doing things a different way.

There’s the communal eye roll at the Last-Minute Panicker: “Does anyone know what they need for the trip today??” This message always comes the day after the school sent a detailed email and is guaranteed to spark a whole other WhatsApp side-group chat behind that parent’s back for “treating everyone else like her personal PA”.

There’s the Link-Bomber – that parent dispatching urgent advice about privacy settings on your Facebook settings that everyone else knows was a hoax from three years ago, or conspiracy theories about everything from vaccines to nutrition advice. There’s the Out-of-Hours Chatterer who messages the group after 11pm – often checking in from the back of a cab “catching up on the chat”, giving off some serious no boundaries energy. There is the Boaster, the Oversharer and the Event Hijacker: “hi just jumping on here to see if you can all still come to Pia’s birthday party”.

It’s often fairly tepid: lost PE kits, voting for a class Christmas tree: two small pre-lit trees or one bigger pre-lit tree? But then it can get wild for three hours in a phenomenon called swarming, which often happens when the Gossip Merchant wades in and sparks a heated debate like what’s being taught in sex education, or a complaint about a teacher, or even worse, another pupil.

Mistakes happen. One mum sent an entire Google doc with her work presentation for a top-secret Christmas advert to Class 3 parents when she posted in the wrong chat. Another parent booked a table thinking it was a restaurant and one mum posted a music video of herself singing in a cornfield.

There are blazing rows – beefs that are taken offline when someone is ignored or says something The Unofficial Organiser (because there is always one) takes offence to. I remember one friend being reduced to tears when everyone piled in on her when she had gently asked if the Christmas fair could be held on a weekend so working parents like her could get involved. She thought she was being helpful, the others thought she was being difficult “when she hardly does anything ever”.

It’s pretty ruthless. I tend to avoid post-explosive WhatsApp disputes by wearing a huge hooded puffer coat at the school gate so I can go incognito, or else pretend to be on my phone incessantly so I look busy. School parent groups are just not worth the hassle. It’s a full-time job to keep on top of it. I have two children at the same school – Lola, nine, and Liberty, seven – and I’d estimate it’s easily 100 messages a week per class.

Not taking part in class WhatsApps might make me look disinterested – and I’m lucky in that I have some mum friends who follow the “Goldilocks” rule of just being involved enough to tell me about party invitations and important changes to the school timetable.

To be honest, if I got back on the class WhatsApp full throttle, it’d take up half my working day – and I’d have to force myself not to react to points that irritated me. I admit, though, to secretly stalking it and having the odd glance. Let’s face it, who wouldn’t? It’s far too exciting to miss. But only when the volume is turned right down. Preferably on mute.

Is Shabana Mahmood now the true heir to Tony Blair?

I loved it, obviously. A Labour cabinet minister telling the sentimental wing of her own party that it had to face up to some tough decisions if it wanted to deliver compassionate, social democratic policies for the people.

For those of us who think that, on balance, Tony Blair was a good prime minister, it was a thrilling moment in the House of Commons: Shabana Mahmood, on top of her brief, swatting aside critics on both sides. But above all, someone who was prepared to tell the naive elements of her own party that she wouldn’t take any holier-than-thou pieties from them, that she knew what her Labour values were and that she was prepared to do whatever it took to put them into practice.

It was, of course, most enjoyable to watch her put the sanctimonious Liberal Democrats and Greens in their places – not to mention the SNP and Plaid Cymru. While so many in her party go all soft at the knees at the thought of Ed Davey and Zack Polanski stealing Labour voters, and think that Labour should copy its rivals to the so-called left, she was having none of it.

When Max Wilkinson of the Lib Dems lectured her about “stoking division by using immoderate language” for claiming that the country is being “torn apart” by immigration, she said: “I wish I had the privilege of walking around this country and not seeing the division that the issue of migration and the asylum system is creating across this country.” She then dramatised her own experience of racism by dropping the F-bomb, possibly the first time the word has been used from the despatch box.

When Carla Denyer of the Greens took up the theme, accusing her of boosting “toxic, racist narratives”, Mahmood said: “It is Green Party politicians who are absolute hypocrites, because they talk great language in here and then oppose asylum accommodation in their own constituencies.”

But the serious business was to take on the critics from her own side. When Richard Burgon, whose membership of the Parliamentary Labour Party was restored earlier this year after a period of suspension for disloyalty, accused her of trying to out-Reform Reform, she told him: “I do not care what other parties are saying on these matters.

“First and foremost is my moral responsibility to the people of this country as I fulfil my duty as home secretary. I have a series of reforms that are underpinned by the values of the Labour Party and the values of the British people: fairness and contribution.” She told him to go away and read the details of her reforms.

Obviously, I admire Mahmood’s clarity and conviction. She is not afraid of Kemi Badenoch playing politics with the issue, offering to support the government to get its legislation through against the opposition of Labour rebels. She knows what Badenoch is trying to do – namely to encourage more Labour MPs to oppose Mahmood’s plans by identifying them as “Tory”.

Mahmood swept that aside by pointing out that it was the Conservative government that made such a mess of the asylum system in the first place.

But she was not afraid of Nigel Farage, or even Tommy Robinson, saying approving things about her policies either. When Farage jokingly invited her to join Reform, she resorted to profanity again, telling him to “sod off”; as for Robinson, she did not need to pay any attention, she said, to someone who didn’t think she was English because of the colour of her skin.

The real criticism from the Labour so-called left is not, of course, that Mahmood is trying to appease Farage, as was given away by Cat Eccles, the rebel Labour MP, on Times Radio this morning: “It just feels that they are trying to just be seen to be doing something just to appease the electorate.”

Mahmood’s confidence at the despatch box was a rare treat. I enjoyed the way she was underlining and writing on her notes as she spoke, as if she was multitasking, drafting her constituency correspondence while addressing the chamber, because she was so sure of what she was saying.

But what sent an electric current down the spine was the feeling that this was a big moment in history: that this was a minister rising to the level of events. Or at least, trying harder than anyone else to do so.

It may be that she will not succeed in stopping the boats. When MPs do look at the details of her measures, they may conclude that many of the 40-odd changes will affect small numbers of people. They may realise that the changes will do little to reduce the “pull factors” that encourage people to take terrible risks to cross the Channel.

But they will know that she has won the argument for doing “whatever it takes” to restore control over immigration – and that the only criticisms that count are those that propose more effective ways of stopping the deadly small-boat traffic.