Andy Burnham has said Britain needs to make more use of immigration detention centres, and that he agrees with Reform leader Nigel Farage that the country needs to “get back to a sense of order”.

Andy Burnham has said Britain needs to make more use of immigration detention centres, and that he agrees with Reform leader Nigel Farage that the country needs to “get back to a sense of order”.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, the Labour leadership hopeful said: “We need to make greater use of detention so that people who have got no basis for a claim are not actually admitted into the country. So that’s dealt with quickly and there’s a speedier return.”

He also criticised the Home Office for housing asylum seekers in more deprived areas of the country. “Local authorities are often just not consulted at all. The Home Office just does what it wants…. What I am calling for is the reform of these Home Office contracts. I do agree with what Farage is saying. What we’ve got to do is get back to a sense of order.”

Burnham is polling just ahead of the Reform UK candidate Robert Kenyon for the 18 June Makerfield byelection. The far-right party has dubbed him “open-borders Andy”. He needs to become an MP in order to run to replace Keir Starmer.

The Manchester mayor has rowed back on some of his more pro-immigration stances in the run-up to the byelection. He previously called for an end to the immigration benefits restriction known as “no recourse to public funds” (NRPF), which is a major cause of homelessness for asylum seekers since it prevents them from claiming benefits or accessing public housing.

But he is no longer calling for ministers to scrap the rule, The Guardian reported last month.

And earlier in May, he said he would not seek to water down home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s anti-immigration crackdown, which includes an end to permanent refugee status and a plan to increase the time required for indefinite leave to remain from five to ten years.

For those deemed to have entered the country “illegally”, that period could be as long as 30 years.

“What people don’t want to see is the chaos of the small boat crossings. I think the government is getting some order back into the system but there is definitely more to be done,” he said.

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