UK: Labour’s immigration overhaul risks making migrants second-class residents

In her address to the Labour party conference, the new home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, confirmed plans to overhaul the rules for indefinite leave to remain (ILR). These include increasing the time someone must live in the UK to be eligible for ILR from five years to ten.

ILR is the immigration status that grants non-citizens the right to live and work in the UK without time restrictions. For many, it is the final step before naturalisation as a British citizen.

Mahmood said that the government will soon consult on changes to ILR eligibility: “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, and finally, that you have truly given back to your community such as by volunteering your time to a local cause.”

Labour is seeking to outflank Reform UK on migration. Nigel Farage’s party has embraced a Trumpian style of anti-migration populism – mixing hardline rhetoric about “taking back control” with attacks on elites and institutions acting against the interests of “ordinary people”.

Labour’s counter is to accuse Reform of racism while adopting restrictive policies of its own, dressed in the language of fairness...

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