"F**k Right Off': Shabana Mahmood Hits Back At 'White Liberal' Hecklers

British politician and UK's Secretary of State for the Home Department Shabana Mahmood has told "white liberals" to "f**k right off" after being heckled during a live interview at a West End theatre in London, according to The Guardian.

The Home Secretary was interrupted by members of the audience during a show with comedian Matt Forde on Monday, after protesters accused her of copying the immigration policies of Nigel Farage's Reform UK. Chants of "refugees welcome" broke out in the theatre after one heckler said he wanted to "personally thank" her for "out-Reforming Reform", as per the news report.

Ms Mahmood hit back strongly, saying she would not allow anyone to "claw away at the foundations" of who she is. "I'm a proud Englishwoman. I'm a proud Brit, I'm a hugely proud Muslim," she said.

According to The Independent, the Home Secretary claimed that accusations of imitating Reform were an attempt to "delegitimise" what she called "perfectly valid" concerns about immigration levels, including those held by many ethnic minority people in Britain. She said the criticism carried a racial undertone, suggesting some people felt a "brown woman" should not be allowed to hold such views. "Well, I'm saying it," she added.

Matt Forde later posted on X that Ms Mahmood had "handled being screamed at by two posh yobs with total composure".

One of the protesters, Joe, 32, from the group Green New Deal Rising, said they had disrupted the event to oppose what he described as "cruel immigration policies". He said migrants in Britain were facing waits of up to 30 years for settled status and that children born in the UK were being handcuffed and deported.

The protest comes as Ms Mahmood faces a rebellion within her own party. She recently put forward plans to double the waiting time for indefinite leave to remain from five to ten years, and to make refugee status temporary, subject to review every 30 months. Former deputy prime minister Angela Rayner is among the Labour MPs to have spoken out against the proposals.

More than 100 charities signed an open letter to the Home Secretary last year, warning that targeting refugees would do nothing to tackle poverty, the housing crisis or NHS delays, and would only "scapegoat the most vulnerable".