Mahmood demands migrants earn right to settlement in UK

Migrants will have to prove they are contributing to society to earn the right to remain in the UK, the home secretary has said.

In her speech to Labour conference, Shabana Mahmood outlined a series of new conditions migrants have to meet to qualify for indefinite leave to remain.

Under the proposals, legal migrants will have to learn English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community to be granted permanent settlement status.

Labour says the policy draws a clear dividing line between the government and Reform UK, which says it would abolish indefinite leave to remain.

The main theme of Labour’s conference is taking the fight to Reform UK, which is leading in UK-wide national opinion polls.

In her first conference speech as home secretary, Mahmood said the story of Britain’s progress as an “open, tolerant, generous place” had become contested.

Mahmood said her broad definition of patriotism was “turning into something smaller, something more like ethno-nationalism”.

To stop this, she said, the Labour government had to “understand why so many people feel the country doesn’t work for them”.

“If we do not rise to this challenge, our vision of an open, tolerant, generous country will wither,” Mahmood said.

She said working-class communities would turn away from Labour “and seek solace in the false promises” of Farage’s party.

She added that challenge was not just winning the next general election, but keeping the country together and fighting for “our belief in a greater Britain, not a littler England”.

The rise in the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats and the scale of immigration to the UK in recent years were prominent themes in her speech.

Mahmood promised to “do whatever it takes to secure our borders”.

Confirming plans to reform indefinite leave to remain, Mahmood said the changes would “ensure contribution to this country is a condition of living here”.

Mahmood’s speech blended the personal with the political, featuring references to her upbringing and her background.

She spoke about her parents’ experience of arriving in the UK, arguing the acceptance of migrants depends on their contribution to local communities.

She also talked about being a victim of shoplifting, when she worked behind the counter of her family’s corner shop as a child, and why that has motivated her to crack down on theft.

“I know there’s nothing ‘low-level’ about shoplifting,” Mahmood said.

“I know what it feels like to keep a cricket bat behind the counter, just in case.”

The home secretary said she would launch a “winter of action” scheme in a bid to tackle shoplifting.

This will entail police forces across the country working in partnership with local businesses.

Mahmood was listened to politely, and there was some applause for her speech, but as she told the delegates: “In solving this crisis, you may not always like what I do.

“We will have to question some of the assumptions and legal constraints that have lasted for a generation and more.”

Her target audience as a whole were also the voters who may be tempted to vote Reform, and Mahmood sees in the Home Office a department which needs to be more robust in doing what’s necessary to make an impression on the immigration numbers – legal and illegal.

Currently, migrants can apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years, giving them the right to live, study and work in the UK permanently.

Labour plans to double the period it takes to gain the status from five years to 10, and a consultation was announced in May as part of a package of plans to cut immigration.

Ministers are keen for migrants to prove they have integrated in the UK if they want the settlement status.

That includes meeting conditions such as making National Insurance contributions, not taking any benefits payments and giving back to their communities.

Labour says some foreign nationals could earn earlier settlement, based on their contribution or skills.

Migration Observatory estimates there are about 4.5 million people who hold indefinite leave to remain, including roughly 430,000 non-EU citizens.

Reform said it would replace indefinite leave to remain with visas that force migrants – including non-EU nationals who already have the status – to reapply every five years.

Labour says this would force workers who have been contributing to the UK for decades to leave their homes and families.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said Reform UK’s policy was “racist” and “immoral” in an interview with the BBC.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves echoed his comments on Monday. She told the BBC people in the UK illegally should “be sent home” but it was “quite a different thing” to deport those living and working in the UK legally.

“Those policies are racist, and we will call them out,” she added.

In response, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage told the Daily Express that Labour “do not believe in border controls” and said the prime minister’s comments were a “desperate attack”.

Zia Yusuf, Reform UK policy chief, told BBC Breakfast that people have “perfectly legitimate concerns about immigration” and “are smart enough to know if somebody is voting for a policy that Starmer calls racist, what do you think Starmer thinks of you?”