Labour to link settled status for migrants to good citizenship

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Migrants will be forced to prove they are net contributors to society and have never claimed benefits in order to qualify for permanent residency in Britain, under new rules set out by the government on Monday.

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood will announce plans to block foreign nationals from obtaining indefinite leave to remain in the UK if they have a criminal record or do not speak English to a high standard.

The proposals also stipulate that foreign citizens must volunteer in their community and pay national insurance to qualify for permanent residency. This would not apply to migrants who already have settled status in Britain.

In a speech to the Labour party conference, Mahmood will say many Britons feel things are “spinning out of control” and that “patriotism, a force for good, is turning into something smaller, something more like ethno-nationalism”.

The government is seeking to draw a clear dividing line with Reform UK, which earlier this month pledged to scrap indefinite leave to remain for migrants as leader Nigel Farage warned “the era of cheap foreign labour is over”.

Under Reform’s plans, hundreds of thousands of foreign nationals, including those who already have the status, would be deported.

Mahmood’s reforms, to be consulted on later in the year, build on Labour’s previous pledge to extend the default period that migrants need to be in Britain before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain from five to ten years.

During her first speech as home secretary, she will warn that if the government does not succeed, “working people will turn away. . . . . and seek solace in the false promises of Farage”.

But critics argue that ministers are sending a message that Farage’s diagnosis of the country’s problems is wrong, while at the same time implicitly conceding there is an issue with how permanent residency is granted in Britain.

Marley Morris, associate director at the think-tank IPPR, said refugees already had access to the welfare system, raising questions over whether they would be ineligible for ILR under the new policy.

Care workers would also be affected by the planned changes. Tens of thousands who have come to the UK since 2022 are believed to be adrift after their employers proved unable to offer the work promised and lost their sponsorship licence.

They do not currently qualify for benefits, but may not be paying national insurance if they are out of work, and might struggle to meet toughened English language requirements.

Most skilled workers, however, would be affected only by the new requirement to do community volunteering.

Lawyers and immigration advisers said this facet of the policy could lead to long queues of visa-holders applying to be school governors, and a cottage industry of companies ready to accredit litter-picking efforts.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described Farage’s immigration policy as “racist” and “immoral”, though he clarified that he did not believe the people that supported the policy were “racists”.

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s head of policy, said on Sunday: “Labour’s message to the country is clear: pay hundreds of billions for foreign nationals to live off the state forever, or Labour will call you racist.”