Migrants aiming to settle in the UK must secure employment, refrain from claiming benefits, and engage in community service under new plans by the interior minister set to be revealed on Monday.
Currently, those with family in the UK who have resided there for five years can gain “indefinite leave to remain”—a form of permanent residency—as can individuals who have legally lived in the UK for 10 years on any visa.
Applicants meeting these criteria can live, work, study in the UK, and apply for benefits and British citizenship.
However, in a significant policy change, interior minister Shabana Mahmood will announce on Monday that migrants must make social security contributions, refrain from claiming benefits, maintain a clean criminal record, and volunteer in their communities to remain in the UK.
Mahmood will present these plans at the ruling Labour party’s annual conference, with the government seeking further consultation on these changes later this year, as per a party press release.
This announcement follows the opposition hard-right Reform Party’s statement, which currently leads in national polls, to eliminate “indefinite leave to remain”, requiring migrants to reapply for visas every five years.
This policy would affect hundreds of thousands already holding leave to remain.
“These measures establish a clear distinction between the Labour government and Reform, whose recent proposal… would compel workers, contributing to the country for decades, to abandon their homes and families,” stated the Labour party.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Sunday condemned Reform’s plan as “racist”, stating it would “tear the country apart”.
In her inaugural speech to the Labour conference as interior minister, Mahmood will emphasize that migrants should attain a high level of English proficiency and assert her “tough” stance.
Immigration is a critical issue in the UK, and Mahmood will caution party members that neglecting it will drive “working people away from us… towards the false promises” of Reform leader Nigel Farage.
Finance minister Rachel Reeves will also speak at the conference on Monday, pledging to “invest in Britain’s renewal” and unveiling new plans to employ young people, according to Labour’s press release.
