Labour MP sparks fury after calling for thousands of migrants to be given permanent residency

Oliver Partridge
Wed, 01 Apr 2026 11:48:28 +0000

A Labour MP has provoked anger among fellow parliamentary colleagues by speaking out against the Government's immigration reforms and seemingly encouraging handouts.

Dame Emily Thornberry, MP for Islington South and Finsbury, has urged Sir Keir Starmer to reconsider his proposals, arguing their reforms would deny 90,000 children from overseas access to taxpayer-funded support.

The senior staffer suggested Britain should allow tens of thousands of migrants to be given permanent residency to be able to claim benefits.

Her stance triggered immediate criticism from within her own party, with colleagues pushing back against her position on extending the pathway to indefinite leave to remain.

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The row centres on changes that would lengthen the waiting period before migrants become eligible for permanent residency status, which grants access to the full range of welfare entitlements available to British citizens.

Luke Akehurst, Labour MP for North Durham, defended ministers' approach, telling The Sun: "Controlling immigration remains the main issue raised with me by my constituents in North Durham".

He described Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's plan as "common-sense reforms" designed to diminish the factors making Britain more appealing to migrants compared with similar nations.

The MP also pointed to fiscal pressures as justification for the changes.

"With our public finances under strain, we cannot afford to award the welfare rights accorded by Indefinite Leave to Remain to millions of people who migrated here," he said.

Claire Coutinho, the Shadow Energy Secretary, also launched a sharp rebuke of Ms Thornberry's position.

"Name a single country where foreign citizens can access full benefits without being a permanent resident or citizen. There isn't one," she said.

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The Conservative frontbencher argued such an approach would damage a core principle of citizenship.

"It would undermine a fundamental principle: if you join a society you should contribute to it," she added.

The intervention of party colleagues formed part of concern across the political spectrum regarding the implications of granting welfare access to those who have not yet secured permanent status in the country.

Shabana Mahmood has introduced the first wave of her immigration overhaul, reducing temporary refugee protection from five years to just 30 months.

Under the new rules, adults and children who arrived with them will be required to return to their home countries once those nations are considered safe.

The Home Office has drawn on Denmark's immigration model as inspiration for the changes.

"The reset in Britain's asylum offer, inspired by Denmark's success, will encourage those wishing to build a life in the UK to do so via legal routes, and reduce the pull factors driving illegal migration," she previously stated.

Another aspect of the migrant reforms is cash incentives to migrant families: a pilot scheme offering failed asylum seeker families up to £40,000 to return to their home nation in a bid to reduce the taxpayer burden.

An average asylum seeker family housed in a hotel or other accommodation site costs the British taxpayer approximately £158,000 per annum.

The influx comes as the UK's stalling migrant deal with France has been extended by two months at a whopping cost of £16.2million.

Contracts were extended by a further two months to enable Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to thrash out the terms of a new agreement, as the current terms expired at midnight last night.

Ms Mahmood is expected to offer France £650million for a three-year deal, with the Home Secretary demanding stricter conditions to only release funds once France reaches a certain interception rate of migrants crossing the Channel.