Shabana Mahmood insists new immigration rules 'strike right balance' after mixed response

Shabana Mahmood has insisted her controversial plans to reform immigration rules "strike the right balance". The Home Secretary denied her reputation had taken a hit after she watered down draconian proposals to force foreign care workers to wait 15 years before they qualify for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) - up from its current five. But some left-wing MPs accused Ms Mahmood of still going too far with her plans they say will penalise low-earners, while critics called for a stronger crackdown on her plan for migrant care workers.

Ms Mahmood set out plans on Monday plans for overseas care workers who arrived in the UK before May 2025 to be able to gain ILR after five years if they earn over £25,000. Those earning more than £125,000 will be able to apply for ILR after three years and those earning more than £50,000 or working in healthcare and education will continue to be eligible after five years. Others who earn below this will settle at a new default of 10 years.

Ms Mahmood on Tuesday denied her reputation had been undermined by Mr Burnham after she eventually watered down her plans. Asked if her reputation had been damaged, she told BBC Radio 4: " No, look, I think we've got a fair settlement in this package. I recognise that we were going to always consult. I'm the one that kicked off that consultation myself, and we were always going to consult on the proposals within that consultation. And we offered a number of options about what we might do to deal with the legacy that we inherited from the Conservative government.

"I think the package that I've announced strikes the right balance between workers who have come to this country and also British taxpayers who pay for the systems that we all rely upon. As a result of these changes, roughly half a million people who were going to settle at five years are not now going to settle. So, on any measure, these are still very significant changes." Her package of reforms were highly anticipated after a consultation on the plans took nearly a year.

Cabinet tensions emerged during the lengthy wait, with Angela Rayner having publicly attacked the plans earlier this year and Miatta Fahnbulleh repeatedly failing to back them. The ascendancy of Andy Burnham to Downing Street also shifted the conversation, not least when the new PM signalled he could exempt foreign care workers from the reforms in August. Some Labour MPs raised concerns about the salary thresholds in the latest plans. Neil Duncan-Jordan, the Labour MP for Poole, questioned how the Government will “assess whether a lawyer”, earning more than £50,000, “offers more value to our society than a teaching assistant”.

And Rachael Maskell, the Labour MP for York Central, warned that migrants are in the UK at a time when “skills and contribution do not correlate with wages”. When Ms Mahmood was asked by a Green Party MP whether the changes “amount to an attack on lower-paid workers”, Ms Mahmood said she “rejected that entirely”. “The highest earners, of course, pay the highest in tax, and it is our taxpayers’ money that funds the public services that we all rely upon,” she added.

Mr Burnham said it was “only fair that those who are making the most valuable contribution to our communities are given the opportunity to settle earlier”. Meanwhile, Ms Mahmood said she would not "indulge” in questions about her opinion over a potential return to freedom of movement with the EU. She told Sky News: “What I am keen on is abiding by our manifesto. The Prime Minister has himself recognised that there were significant issues with the free movement of people, and that should also be part of the debate that we’re going to have as a country about our Brexit settlement and what we do for the future.”

It came after the Prime Minister said an “honest discussion” was needed about how temporary migration from Europe had been replaced by long-term settlement in larger numbers since Brexit. He told ITV : “I have not proposed freedom of movement coming back. I do believe that we should have an honest discussion with people about how immigration has changed since the Brexit vote because the shorter term migration of people coming from Europe and then going back has been replaced with long term settlement in bigger numbers.”