In his first speech as Prime Minister, Andy Burnham made a range of impressive promises. Much has already been said about his first promise: to end rough sleeping – and of course, we’d insist that must include addressing asylum and migrant destitution. He did not say ‘stop the boats’ or ‘island of strangers’, which was a relief. (I admit, my bar is low – but he did say this for which he is not going to be forgiven.)

He also talked about his plan for a more collaborative politics, a more decentralised power structure away from Westminster, a new economy with more public ownership of essential services and developing a 10-year plan for the future of the UK. He ends his speech with this: ‘Let’s build a new national sense of unity, of common purpose and positivity. Let us make this the moment when Britain starts to believe again. The moment we bring back hope.’

If those in our community with a sunny disposition believed in that ‘hope’, well it was dashed pretty much straight away. The reappointment of Shabana Mahmood as the Home Secretary most likely signals that hostile migration and asylum policies will continue as before. And there is no sign of abandoning the nasty Immigration and Asylum Bill.

I don’t know exactly how Andy Burnham has been spending his time since he became Prime Minister – I guess he must have been busy. But I do hope he has been putting some time aside to read the hundreds of open letters which have been sent to him by post, on Insta and what not. In case you sent him a letter and he doesn’t have time to reply, I thought I’d send Right to Remain’s open letter to you so at least you get something. 

Right to Remain is blessed to witness hope being made by our community every day. We witness hope when people use our Toolkit to build a mutual-aid system, support and lean on each other to navigate the asylum and immigration system and feel less alone. We witness hope when people sit with others’ pain caused by the hostile environment and care for their souls with an infinite amount of humanity. We witness hope when groups, lawyers and supporters fight tooth and nail to get justice for our community. We witness hope when others step in to defend our community when it comes under attack by racist groups. We witness hope when we create joy in our togetherness and solidarity. This is an incredible feat, considering all the hostility that constantly tries to undermine us. Let’s give Andy Burnham a lesson in how to create hope. (Andy, if you are reading this, give us a quick call.) 

We have said this again before, and we will say it again. Let’s build a bigger tent that protects everyone. Rising cost of living, extreme weather caused by climate change, fear and anxiety whipped up by manufactured divisions – they are affecting all of us, regardless of our immigration status. We must continue to mainstream migration justice by connecting across issues and topics in local areas and in our neighbourhoods. As I recently wrote, people need to survive in a place; you cannot live in an ether of social media. We need to create more places of solidarity by building everyday connections across the divides. 

Lastly, we must do everything we can to stop descent into the dystopian future, dominated by a camp where unwanted human beings will be locked up. At the moment, the government is quietly but steadily expanding the UK’s immigration detention estate. Campsfield detention centre, which we shut down in 2018 after years and years of campaigning, reopened at the end of 2025. Not only that, the Home Office is proposing to expand its size from 160 to 400 bed spaces. You have until the consultation period closes on 24 July to register your objection against their planning application, and every objection matters. Additionally, Haslar detention centre, which was closed down in 2016, is set to reopen in 2027 at a much bigger scale of 600 beds, from the original size of 130 beds. This consultation closes on 6 August: again, as many of us as possible must send our objections. This is where all the immigration raids, reporting requirements, asylum rejections, and visa refusals end up. We simply cannot let this happen.

That was our open letter to you. Maybe Andy won’t write back to you – but we are here to stay, here to fight, together with you. 

In solidarity as always, 

Eiri Ohtani, Director, Right to Remain