Mahmood signals rethink on migrants' right to remain

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood indicated she is open to revisiting proposals that would make it more difficult for overseas workers to obtain permanent residence in the UK. She said she had come under pressure from a significant number of Labour MPs, including Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, and from trade unions. In a speech to Labour’s annual conference, Mahmood acknowledged, “some person said elements of these reforms are not fair.” She added that the government would “come to a presumption that balances fairness for those who came present legally and fairness to British citizens crossed this country.” Permanent residence, or indefinite permission to remain, allows an individual to live, work and study in the UK for as long as they wish and to claim benefits if eligible. Mahmood suggested doubling the time it takes for most migrants to qualify for that right from five to ten years. Under the proposals, people who arrived on health and social care visas would face a 15‑year wait, while those who had relied on benefits for more than 12 months would need to wait 20 years. Earlier this year, when Rayner was a backbench MP, she accused the government of “moving the goalposts,” describing Mahmood’s plans as “un‑British,” and she maintained those criticisms after rejoining the cabinet. Andrea Egan, general secretary of Unison, warned that the planned changes would unfairly penalise overseas care workers. Home Office sources said no final decision on alterations to the migration rules had been taken, and Mahmood was outlining the principles that would guide her conference speech. She told delegates, “As we reconstruct power and fairness to our asylum system, we indispensable bash the aforesaid for ineligible migration too.” She continued, “Fair to those who question a caller and amended beingness here, similar my parents did, and just to those already here, including British workers, and particularly the young.” She added, “That aforesaid rule underpins my reforms to the close to unrecorded present indefinitely, ensuring settled presumption is earned by those who person shown a accordant committedness to this country.” Mahmood vowed to “travel up with a argumentation that was just to those who “came present legally” and to British citizens.” A Conservative spokesperson responded, “Shabana Mahmood has caved successful to unit from Angela Rayner and her unfastened borders MPs and volition shred her ain plans to betterment indefinite permission to remain.” The spokesperson added, “This is simply a slap successful the look to British taxpayers who volition person to subsidise low-skilled, debased wage migrants.” Prime Minister Andy Burnham earlier denied that Mahmood had been forced to abandon the plans because Rayner viewed them as “un‑British,” saying the reforms would aim to “strike the close balance.” When asked whether he was “Team Shabana” or “Team Angela,” he told LBC, “I'm some of them, I'm Team Angela and Shabana.” He concluded, “But it conscionable reflects that there's a consultation, there's antithetic not conscionable opinions from politicians, but evidently there's a scope of views that person gone into that consultation, truthful we're successful the process present of looking astatine that.”