Over 160 cross-party councillors have signed a joint statement expressing their solidarity with their constituents and condemning the government’s policies “targeting people who have migrated here, people seeking asylum, and people who are refugees”.

The councillors, from the Greens, Labour, Lib Dems, local parties, and independent, said that they “represent wards, parishes and districts where people of all backgrounds live, work and build communities together”, and “support each other, learn from each other and celebrate each other.”

They say that as a result, they “cannot and will not be silent about policies and actions which affect the people and communities we represent and which make their lives harder in a way that benefit no-one.”

The councillors’ statement, co-ordinated by the Migrant Champions Network, comes in response to a raft of legislation and proposed policy changes by the current government, under successive Labour Prime Ministers, that would affect their residents and constituents. This includes extending routes to settlement and making refugee status temporary; ending refugee family reunion; giving immigration officers the power to handcuff and use force against children; removing support for people seeking asylum and putting pressure on overstretched local authorities; bringing forward yet another Bill on immigration and asylum which would dismantle basic and fundamental human rights protections for people seeking asylum; and increasing immigration raids on people in their homes.

The councillors call on the government to “change course and reverse these policies and actions, which risk causing great harm and fractures in our society and communities”.

They have a message to their residents which is “we are on your side. You are not alone, and we will always advocate for you. We will continue to build communities of safety, solidarity and hope.”

This intervention comes at a time of growing local resistance and opposition to the British government’s harsh policies on immigration. As many as eight councils around Britain have now pledged to protect their residents from Home Office immigration raids and refuse to co-operate with immigration enforcement. Last week, Newham council joined six other London councils, and Edinburgh city council, in committing to refuse to share data with the Home Office and provide support for businesses and residents targeted by raids, alongside other measures.

Griff Ferris, co-ordinator of the Migrant Champions Network and advocacy and campaigns manager at the Joint Councillor for the Welfare of Immigrants, said:

“This government’s policies and rhetoric are not only deeply harmful to our communities, they are also dangerous, and are facilitating and inciting the racism and violence we have seen from openly fascist far-right groups for the last three years. Thankfully, local councillors and authorities are standing up for their residents against this government’s racist and divisive immigration agenda. The government must listen to these local representatives all around the country and reverse change course”.

The full statement is below and the signatories can be viewed here.

Councillors’ joint statement on the government’s immigration and asylum policies 

October 2026 

As councillors from all over Britain, we stand with all our constituents who are concerned about or impacted by the government’s policies targeting people who have migrated here, people seeking asylum, and people who are refugees.

We represent wards, parishes and districts where people of all backgrounds live, work and build communities together. Our duty is to everyone that lives in our communities, regardless of where they were born.

Anyone who has grown up, lives or works in the communities we represent will know people born outside the UK. They are our neighbours, community members, friends and family. We support each other, learn from each other and celebrate each other.

That’s why we cannot and will not be silent about policies and actions which affect the people and communities we represent and which make their lives harder in a way that benefits no-one. These include:

• making it harder for our residents to settle in the UK and live with dignity and safety, with proposed longer routes to settlement and refugee status made temporary. This creates a two-tier society where some of our residents would be permanently in a provisional situation, unable to plan for their future, invest in their communities, or ever feel truly secure.

• denying our residents the opportunity to reunite with family members, fracturing families and communities. Families belong together.

• proposing a family separation policy which allows force to be used against children, including for them to be handcuffed and violently physically separated from their parents and family members. We have a duty of care and safeguarding to our communities, especially children and the vulnerable, and this is abhorrent.

• removing support for people seeking asylum, denying even meagre resources from groups already made destitute, enforcing destitution and homelessness on many already marginalised families, and putting even more pressure on stretched local authorities.

• bringing forward yet another Immigration Bill, which would dismantle basic and fundamental human rights protection for our residents, undermine the fairness of appeals, and push people seeking asylum, who are already re-building their lives from nothing, into significant debt.

• creating a climate of fear by targeting our residents in their homes and workplaces with immigration raids, and forcibly deporting people who have come here to seek safety. All our communities need safety to flourish and thrive.

We call on the government to change course and reverse these policies and actions, which risk causing great harm and fractures in our society and communities. 

To our residents: we are on your side. You are not alone, and we will always advocate for you.

We will continue to build communities of safety, solidarity and hope.