Migrants who want to settle in the UK will have to have a job, not receive benefits and do community service, according to the Home Secretary’s plans.
Currently, those with family in Britain and who have lived there for five years qualify for “indefinite leave to remain” – permanent residency – as do those who have been legally in the UK for ten years on any type of visa.
Qualified applicants who meet these requirements also gain the right to live, work and study in the UK, and the right to claim benefits and British citizenship.
However, in a major political shift, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmud has announced that migrants will have to pay social security contributions, not receive benefits, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community in order to stay.
Mahmud will present the plans at the annual conference of the ruling Labour Party, and the government will consult on the changes later this year, the party said in a statement.
The announcement comes shortly after the far-right opposition Reform Party, which is currently leading in national polls, announced that it would scrap “unlimited residence permits” altogether, with migrants instead having to reapply for visas every five years.
This would affect hundreds of thousands of people who have already been granted residence permits.
“These measures draw a clear line between a Labour government and Reform, whose recent announcement would force workers who have contributed to this country for decades to leave their homes and families,” the Labour party said in a statement.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday branded Reform’s plan “racist”, adding that it would “tear the country apart”.
In her first speech to the Labour conference as Home Secretary, Mahmud will announce that migrants will need to learn a high level of English and that she will be a “tough” minister.
Immigration is a key issue in the UK, and Mahmud will warn party members that failure to tackle the issue will mean “working people will turn away from us and seek solace in the false promises” of Reform leader Nigel Farage.
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves will also address the party today, when she will “pledge to invest in rebuilding Britain” and announce new plans for youth employment, a Labour press release said.
