The move represents one of the most significant changes to the UK's asylum system for a generation and is likely to anger some on Labour's left wing.

Under the new rules, asylum seekers' cases will be reviewed every 30 months, after which they could be sent to their country of origin, provided it is deemed safe to do so.

There will be an exception for unaccompanied children.

Some of Mahmood's other proposed reforms would need to be passed into law following full parliamentary scrutiny and are therefore unlikely to come into force until later this year.

This includes doubling the time it takes most migrants to gain permanent residency rights in the UK from five to 10 years.

In the case of refugees it could take 20 years.

Denmark had moved from a system of offering refugees seven years of protection and a route to permanent settlement, to reviewing their cases at least every two years.

Speaking to the BBC on her fact-finding trip to Copenhagen, Mahmood said the government is "changing an age-old assumption of what it means to be a refugee -moving from a permanent to a temporary status".

She said this is because "it will be less attractive for illegal migrants to come to our country" and she wanted to "change the calculus in the minds of the people about to get on a boat", adding: "We will have a much more difficult system for illegal arrivals. "

But some in her own party have already accused her of "aping" Reform UK and have questioned tougher immigration policies after the loss of the once-safe seat of Gorton and Denton to the Green Party.

Imran Hussain, from the Refugee Council charity, told the BBC that reviewing the status of refugees - who were successful, not failed, asylum seekers - would be costly and distract the Home Office from speeding up the system.

He also warned that if refugees felt they "had one foot in the departure lounge" even though their asylum claim had been accepted, then this would make it more difficult for them to hold down employment and to integrate.

But the home secretary, speaking to the BBC at the British Embassy in Copenhagen, said the importance of her changes should not be underestimated.

She said: "Honestly I really believe these reforms are existential for us as a country and we have a real problem with a lack of control in our border system and what that does to public trust and confidence in politics - but also in the ability of the state to actually just do anything at all. "

And she acknowledged that Labour could lose the next election if it could not keep its pledge to end the use of asylum hotels.

She said: "This is a key priority.

If we fail to fulfil our promise to the British people then I would expect they will vote accordingly.

It is not only a much smaller and less diverse country than the UK, it also does not face the challenge of small boats filled with potential migrants travelling to its shores.

Both Reform UK and the Conservatives say that the Channel crossings won't be stopped unless Mahmood is willing to leave the European Convention on Human Rights.

She will not do that, though she is seeking to alter how it is interpreted to allow more asylum seekers to be removed.

Asked if she should be straight with voters that the problem of illegal immigration would not be solved in this Parliament, Mahmood acknowledged it was "going to be difficult" and she is determined to get the numbers down

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