Shabana Mahmood has announced a new crackdown on indefinite leave to remain, just days after Nigel Farage set out Reform UK’s policy on the scheme.
The Home Secretary was critical of the Reform UK leader, who she appeared to suggest was partly to blame for a surge in “ethnonationalism” across Britain.
Ms Mahmood made the announcement during her keynote speech at the Labour conference
|GB NEWS
Ms Mahmood still accepted something must be done on indefinite leave to remain and she set out new conditions that will be in place for migrants seeking to remain in Britain under its terms.
She announced Labour will soon increase the time in which someone must have lived in Britain to earn indefinitely leave to remain from five years to 10 years.
“We will be consulting on this change soon and as part of this consultation, I will be proposing a series of new tests such as being in work, making National Insurance contributions, not taking a penny in benefits, learning English to a high standard, having no criminal record”, she said.
“And finally, that you have truly given back to your community, such as volunteering your time to a local cause.
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“Without meeting those conditions, I do not believe your ability to stay in this country should be automatic.”
Indefinite leave to remain is how someone settles in the UK. It gives someone the right to live, work and study in the country for as long as they like.
Shabana Mahmood announced her migrant crackdown
|GB NEWS
It also allows people to apply for benefits, if eligible. It can also be used to apply or British citizenship.
Mr Farage took a more radical approach with his proposed indefinite leave to remain proposal by vowing to abolish it entirely.
The Reform UK leader said people who already have it or settled status would no longer be guaranteed it and would have to reapply under stricter criteria.
The new visas would need to be renewed every five years, meaning they are not permanent.
Nigel Farage wants to abolish indefinite leave to remain entirely
| Nigel FarageTougher rules such as a higher salary threshold, a better standard of English, stricter rules on bringing spouses or children and no access to welfare or public benefits would be in place.
He claimed his crackdown would boost the public purse massively, quoting a figure of around £234 billion, a number which has been questioned across the political sphere.
Ms Mahmood used her speech to give Labour delegates a flavour as to what can be expected of her as Home Secretary.
She vowed to deliver a “greater Britain, not a littler England” while also admitting her decisions may not always be popular.
“We will have to question some of the assumptions and legal restraints that have lasted for a generation or more”, she told the conference in Liverpool.
Speaking about Britain’s border perils, she said that without control “we will never be the open, tolerant and generous country that I know we all believe in”.