Shabana Mahmood has dodged claims she will water down her proposals (Image: Getty)
Shabana Mahmood faced fresh taunts over whether she is “calling the shots” on Labour’s immigration policy as a potential climbdown looms. Mayor of London Sadiq Khan claimed that millions of foreign nationals who arrived during the so-called “Boris wave” should not have to wait longer for settlement rights.
The explosive intervention will be a blow to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has insisted that changing the qualifying period from five years to at least 10 years is essential to prevent a fiscal time bomb.
Ms Mahmood claimed it would cost £10billion to support low-wage or unemployed migrants if they are given indefinite leave to remain.
But she could not confirm her original proposals would be implemented in full, sparking claims she will “dilute” them to placate left-wing MPs and trade union barons.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp declared: “If the Home Secretary dilutes her own policy on ILR because Angela Rayner is calling the shots, surely her position is untenable?
“If she needs our votes to get the original policy through undiluted she has them, though we would go further.
“But will she stand firm against Angela?”
And Sir Sadiq hinted that the Labor Home Secretary will water down her proposals in the coming weeks. He told Today: “I think Shabana Mahmood is absolutely right to have these conversations out in the open.
“She’s right to be expressing her views and to have a consultation. I have responded to the consultation in relation to the opportunities but also the concerns I have.
“I’m somebody who is not in favor of changing rules retrospectively. I’m somebody who recognizes we need to control our borders, make sure those who come here contribute, but also we need an immigration policy which is compassionate, and I’m confident that once Shabana has taken on board the responses to the consultation, she will announce a policy that we can all get behind.”
More than 200,000 people have been granted settlement rights – indefinite leave to remain – since Labor vowed to tighten the rules last year. Under Labour’s current plans, migrants will be told to wait at least 10 years before they can apply for settlement rights.
Care workers face being forced to wait 15 years before they can apply for ILR, as immigration chiefs believe the health and social care visa was widely abused. And migrants could be barred from claiming benefits unless they become British citizens.
Some 4.2 million migrants moved to the UK between 2021 and 2024. More than 100 Labor MPs, trade unions, health bodies and Left-wing voters are understood to be opposed to Ms Mahmood’s plans.
And the Home Secretary dodged questions about whether she will implement her plans in full.
Tory Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “In a speech in March, which I thought was rather good actually, the Home Secretary said failure to implement her proposed changes to ILR in full would be, and I quote, “an affront to British citizens, and would cost hardworking taxpayers £10 billion for care workers alone.”
“Given how strongly she clearly feels about her policy, will she confirm to the House that she will implement her own plans in full?
Sir Sadiq Khan has ignited another Labor row (Image: Getty)
“Or is the Housing Secretary and the Energy Secretary now in charge of immigration policy and not her?”
Ms Mahmood responded: “Let me confirm to the House that going forward, settlement will be earned and will not be automatic. He knows we have conducted a consultation on those proposals, and we will set out our policy in due course.”
Mr Philp then hit back: “Okay, clearly not standing by her own plans.”
And Labor MPs continued to pile pressure on the Home Secretary in a bid to force her to water down the proposals.
Abtisam Mohamed asked: “For over 12 months, academics, health workers, and care workers in my constituency have been raising concerns with me about the insecurity created by proposals to try and double the standard qualifying period for ILR.
“Can we really call our system fair when people who came here under one set of rules are now fearful of retrospective change to the terms on which they built their lives?
“Will the Secretary of State clarify how the new proposals can give the people affected the certainty they need?”
Splits have even emerged in the Cabinet, with Communities Secretary Angela Rayner against Ms Mahmood’s plans. But Prime Minister Andy Burnham has backed his Home Secretary.
He said: “Why has this problem arisen? It’s arisen because if you look back to the early 2020s – people call it the ‘Boris wave’ – a huge number of people came in seeking permanent settlement on longer-term visas, and that was the change I was pointing to, in relation to freedom of movement and revolving-door migration.
“A new problem has arisen for Britain in terms of how do we handle that form of migration in the long run. And the Home Secretary is right, in my view, to bring forward changes that are based on the principle that settlement is a right to be earned, not just something that is granted automatically. And she’ll set out the final conclusion soon.”