Reform’s head of policy Zia Yusuf called for foreign nationals to “bear the brunt” of filling the black hole in the public finances.

He told The Times: “Labour has a choice. They can either go ahead and raise taxes on British citizens or they can enact our proposals which put British people first and ask foreign nationals to bear the brunt of the black hole, not British citizens.

“Most British people would consider it outrageous to expect British people to pay higher taxes or see their services cut whilst their money is being spent this way.”

“I’m depressed” by the Home Secretary’s asylum system announcements, a Labour peer who fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia has said.

Former MP Lord Alf Dubs, who arrived in England on Kindertransport in 1939, told the BBC’s Today programme that Shabana Mahmood’s plans will “increase tensions in local communities, and will make this country less welcome, and we’ve traditionally been to welcome people who’ve come here fleeing for safety”.

He added: “So I’m depressed by what’s happened yesterday. I find it upsetting that we’ve got to adopt such a hard line – what we need is a bit of compassion in our politics, and I think that some of the measures were going in the wrong direction, they won’t help.

“The hard line approach will not, in fact, deter people from coming here – at least on the basis of people I spoke to in Calais, for example – I don’t think it will deter them.

“There are some minor things in the proposals which will be okay but on the whole I think we’re going in the wrong direction – very much so.”

Voters “are not going to give this Government the benefit of the doubt until there is change they can feel”, a Cabinet minister has said amid questions over Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership.

Steve Reed said the Prime Minister was answering a question by a journalist when he insisted he would lead Labour into the next general election.

The Housing Secretary told LBC Radio: “The reason he was being asked it is that politics, as we all know, is very volatile.

“At the moment, people have been experiencing a cost-of-living crisis for years. The previous government left all of our public services broken.

“And I think it’s, you know, understandable the public are not going to give this Government the benefit of the doubt until there is change they can feel.

“So, we’re starting to see that happening. We’re cutting the NHS waiting lists. Here I am on your show today talking about how we’re going to end the housing crisis and get the country building.

“But people want to see hard evidence of that and it will take time. So, we’ll keep on focusing on dealing with the cost-of-living crisis, fixing our public services. When we get to the next election, the British public will take a choice.”

Asked about a poll suggesting only a third of Labour voters want Sir Keir to lead the party at the next election, Mr Reed reiterated that “people are desperate for change” and that it takes time to bring about.

A Cabinet minister said “every single” Labour MP was elected on a manifesto that pledged to secure the UK’s borders as he defended the Government’s asylum reforms amid a backlash from within the party.

Asked whether Labour backbenchers publicly criticising the plans should join the Green Party, Steve Reed told Sky News: “Absolutely not.

“Every single one of us who is a Labour MP was elected on the same manifesto, and that manifesto committed us now as a Government to securing our borders.

“It’s very important that we do that. The British people expect us to do that. But we also have to end this vile trade in human lives.”

Pressed on whether he was proud to be part of Sir Keir Starmer’s Government, Mr Reed said “absolutely”, and cited the salience of the migration issue on the doorstep.

Kemi Badenoch will accuse the Chancellor of plotting a “stealth tax bombshell” in a speech today.

The Tory leader will say the U-turn on welfare reforms following a Labour revolt and the expected scrapping of the two-child benefit cap will leave Ms Reeves needing to find £8.5 billion.

Mrs Badenoch will claim Sir Keir Starmer and Ms Reeves are considering “freezing income tax thresholds so that more and more people are dragged into higher rates through a stealth tax bombshell”.

She will say: “They’re hiking taxes on people in work, to give handouts to people on benefits, the last group of people who might still vote Labour.

“It’s not fair, it’s not right, and we will oppose them every single step of the way.”

Nigel Farage will set out a package to save £25 billion a year in a speech this morning ahead of the Budget.

The Reform UK leader will announce the insurgent party’s plans to cut foreign aid to £1 billion, which it said would save about £10 billion.

Ending universal credit payments to foreign nationals, including EU citizens, would raise £6 billion this year, the party said.

Other proposals include raising the immigration health surcharge from £1,035 a year to £2,718, which it claimed would raise £5 billion.

Deporting all foreign criminals would save £580 million, while previously announced plans from Reform to restrict the personal independence payment would save £3.5 billion, the party said.