Shabana Mahmood issued a furious four-word response after Reform UK suggested she would be more at home in Nigel Farage's party than Labour. Reform UK produced a mock image of the Home Secretary sitting on her bed wearing Reform-branded pyjamas, with a poster of a smiling Mr Farage on her wall.

It followed Ms Mahmood's announcement of dramatic plans to cut benefits paid to asylum seekers, deport genuine refugees if their home countries become safer, and remove more families with children. Mr Farage has described the plan as "an audition to join Reform", but pointed out that Labour has spent years attacking him for demanding immigration controls - while some of Ms Mahmood's Labour colleagues are vehemently opposed to her plans.

The light-hearted image, with the message "good morning, Shabana Mahmood", was posted on Reform's official social media account.

But in a furious four-word response, the Home Secretary said: "Over my dead body."

About 20 Labour MPs have publicly attacked Ms Mahmood's plans, while others have raised concerns privately.

Stourbridge Labour MP Cat Eccles attacked the Government for responding to public concern about immigration. She told Times Radio: "It just feels that they are trying to just be seen to be doing something just to appease the electorate. And yes, we're here to please voters, but I don't think this is the right thing to do right now."

Conservatives have offered to vote with the Government to support the immigration changes if Labour MPs try to block it.

Labour MP Stella Creasy said the plans would leave refugees in "a permanent sense of limbo". Labour colleague Nadia Whittome said it was "shameful that a Labour government is ripping up the rights and protections of people who have endured unimaginable trauma".

Another Labour MP, Simon Opher, said his party should "stop the scapegoating of immigrants because it's wrong and cruel", adding "we should push back on the racist agenda of Reform rather than echo it".

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the measures did not go far enough, adding that leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was necessary to address the problem.

She said: "The fact is, we have looked at this issue from every possible direction, and the reality is that any plan that doesn't include leaving the ECHR as a necessary step is wasting time we don't have."

Mr Farage welcomed the "strong language" from the Home Secretary but asked: "Will it survive her own backbenchers in a vote?"