Refugees will be barred from bringing their partners and children to the UK, Yvette Cooper has revealed.

The Home Secretary confirmed Labour is overhauling the rules, including “looking at contribution requirements” and time-limits.

Refugees will instead have to apply through the family scheme which includes requirements that they have a joint income of at least £29,000 a year before they are allowed to bring their foreign partner to the UK.

It comes after Ms Cooper revealed that refugees are applying for their families to join them before they have even left taxpayer-funded accommodation.

This means they do not have jobs and “ways to support family members”.

Officials revealed applications are often made within a month, compared to 18 months six years ago.

The Home Secretary said the suspension comes as ministers seek to address the "immediate pressures" on local authorities and the "risks" of smuggling gangs using family reunion as an incentive for people to make the dangerous journey across the Channel.

Ms Cooper told the Commons: "Some councils are finding that more than a quarter of their family homelessness applications are linked to refugee family reunion. That is not sustainable.

"Currently there are also no conditions on family reunion for refugee sponsors unlike those in place if the sponsor is a British citizen or a long term UK resident and that is not fair.

"Finally, the proportion of migrants who have arrived on small boats and who then apply to bring family has also increased sharply in recent years.

"With signs that smuggler gangs are now able to use the promise of family reunion to promote dangerous journeys to the UK.

"We continue to believe that families staying together is important, and it's why we will seek to prioritise family groups among the applicants to come to Britain under our new deal with France.

"But reforms are needed. So, with our asylum policy statement later this year, we will set out a new system for family migration, including looking at contribution requirements, longer periods before newly granted refugees can apply, and dedicated controlled arrangements for unaccompanied children and for those fleeing persecution who have family in the UK."

Ms Cooper said ministers will change the system by "Spring".

She added: "But in the meantime, we do need to address the immediate pressures on local authorities and the risks from criminal gangs using family reunion as a pull factor to encourage more people onto dangerous boats.

"Therefore, we are bringing forward new immigration rules this week to temporarily suspend new applications under the existing dedicated refugee family reunion route.

"Until the new framework is introduced, refugees will be covered by the same family migration rules and conditions as everyone else."

The Government will also establish a new independent body to deal with immigration and asylum appeals as tens of thousands of people in asylum accommodation are currently awaiting appeals, the Home Secretary said.

She added the current average waiting time for appeals to be heard is 54 weeks.

And Ms Cooper admitted the way judges interpret the ECHR must be changed.

She told MPs: “Our reforms will also address the overly complex system for family migration, including changes to the way Article 8 of the ECHR is interpreted.

“We should be clear that international law is important – it is because other countries know we abide by it that we have been able to make these new agreements with France to return people who arrive on small boats, make new agreements with Germany to stop the warehousing of small boats by criminal gangs and to explore return hubs partnerships with other European countries.

“But we also need the interpretation of international law to keep up with the realities and challenges of today’s world.”

Earlier on Monday, the Prime Minister said he understood the concerns about migration, describing them as a "really serious issue".

Speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley, Sir Keir said: "When it comes to the asylum hotels, I want them emptied. I've been really clear about that. I completely understand why people are so concerned about it."

Asked to commit to a date to empty asylum hotels, Sir Keir replied: "Well, we've said we'll get rid of them by the end of the Parliament. I would like to bring that forward, I think it is a good challenge. I want to bring that forward."

The Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex became the focal point of several demonstrations and counter-protests in recent weeks after an asylum seeker housed there was charged with sexually assaulting a teenage girl last month.

He has denied the charges.

Reacting to the Government's plans for reforms to the asylum system, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said "tweaking" rules will not be enough to tackle illegal migration.

He told the Commons: "This is not just a border security crisis, it is a public safety crisis as well, and people up and down the country are furious. That is why they are protesting.

"If this Government were serious about fixing this problem, they would know that little tweaks here and there are not enough. Tweaks to Article 8 are not going to be enough.

"Tweaking the family reunion rules are not enough, returning maybe, if we are lucky, 50 people a week to France is not going to be enough."

But the Home Secretary also drew criticism from refugee and human rights groups who warned withdrawing refugee family reunion rules immediately would "severely harm refugees".

Chief executive of the Refugee Council Enver Solomon said until now family reunion has been one of the only safe and legal routes available for refugees and overwhelmingly supports women and children who make up the majority of visas granted.

"Far from stopping people taking dangerous journeys to cross the Channel, these changes will only push more desperate people into the arms of smugglers in an effort to reunite with loved ones," he said.

Amnesty International's Steve Valdez-Symonds added: "The Home Secretary may say she is standing against hate, division and chaos, but yet again she has reacted to precisely these evils by doing more harm to refugees - the very people most targeted by them."

He also said the "clear reason" for the appeals backlog is that the Government is "refusing asylum to people who are refugees" but cannot meet the "flawed" rules under the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.