Home secretary to announce new immigration rules - here's what could happen

Tap a highlight to see why it matters.2 findings

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood will make a statement on new immigration laws today. Measures set out last year included increasing the five-year wait for claiming indefinite leave to remain (ILR) - which gives people the right to settle, work and study in the UK and even claim benefits - and drew criticism from some <a href="https://news.sky.com/topic/labour-5700/1">Labour</a> ministers.Under the original plans, foreign care workers would potentially have a 15-year wait for settlement.It is understood the proposals, initially announced in November 2025, could be watered down to exempt social care workers already living in Britain.Housing Secretary Angela Rayner previously described applying the rules retrospectively as "un-British", particularly if they affected migrants already in the UK.The home secretary initially set out the measures to delay settlement amid concerns over the wave of legal arrivals approaching eligibility in the wake of record post-Brexit net migration figures under the previous Tory government.<widget id="1"></widget>This could come at a lifetime cost to the taxpayer of £10 billion, Ms Mahmood said, pointing to figures from the Migration Advisory Committee.Last week, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he believed that ILR was a "right to be earned", but did not commit to bringing in all of Ms Mahmood’s reforms.In a speech in March, Ms Mahmood said that between 2021 and 2024 the country experienced levels of migration it had previously seen over four decades. <widget id="2"></widget>She added that over the next five years, about 350,000 low-skilled workers and their dependants who arrived via the health and social care visa would qualify for settlement, gaining access to certain benefits.The government's year-long consultation on the proposed reforms has drawn more than 200,000 responses.More from Sky News: <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/139-people-arrested-during-protest-in-support-of-palestine-action-13606066" target="_self">Police arrest 325 at Palestine Action protest</a> <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/the-king-to-speak-about-slavery-with-unflinching-honesty-13606556" target="_self">King to speak about slavery with 'unflinching honesty'</a>Reform Leader Nigel Farage said Ms Mahmood's plans were "rightly infuriating to most people who increasingly want net negative migration into Britain".He said reform would scrap IRL "in its entirety and indeed rescind existing awards". <widget id="4"></widget>Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said Ms Mahmood has been "forced to surrender to Angela Rayner" and the "open-borders Labour left".In a post on X, he wrote: "[Mahmood] will now allow hundreds of thousands of low-wage and no-wage migrants to stay in the UK forever and claim benefits."

Read the original article on news.sky.com

What we found (2)

Sky News gives a mostly attributed preview of the Home Secretary's statement on settlement rules, sourcing its figures to Ms Mahmood and the Migration Advisory Committee. In its own voice it calls legal migrants approaching settlement a "wave" and says settled people can "even claim benefits". It ends on Chris Philp's claim about hundreds of thousands of migrants staying forever, with nothing after it.

Uses a loaded word
Minor
“the wave of legal arrivals”
Why this matters
In Sky's own voice, "wave" turns people who came lawfully on work and care visas into a surge washing over the country.
The impression it gives
A reader takes in a picture of an uncontrolled tide of people, not a set number of lawful visa holders reaching an eligibility date.
The context
The people described arrived legally and are approaching a settlement route that already exists. The article's own figure for them is about 350,000 over five years. That is a countable group, not a wave.
Show it in the article
“and even claim benefits”
Why this matters
The word "even" in Sky's own voice presents access to benefits as an excessive or surprising extra that comes with settlement.
The impression it gives
A reader is nudged to see settled migrants' access to benefits as something that goes too far.
The context
Access to benefits on settlement is a standard part of indefinite leave to remain. The article gives no fact that makes it remarkable, so the verdict carried by "even" is Sky's own.
Show it in the article
Gives a contested claim the last word
Minor
“[Mahmood] will now allow hundreds of thousands of low-wage and no-wage migrants to stay in the UK forever and claim benefits.”
Why this matters
Sky closes the article on Chris Philp's post on X, after Nigel Farage's call to rescind existing awards. No government reply or clarification follows.
The impression it gives
A reader is left with the idea that a new decision will let hundreds of thousands of migrants stay permanently who otherwise would not.
The context
Earlier in the same piece, Sky reports that the five-year route to settlement already exists. It says the reported change could only exempt social care workers already living in Britain from a longer wait. Sky sets none of this against Philp's figure or his "no-wage" label at the end, and no Labour or government response appears after the opposition's two claims.
Show it in the article

What it gets right

“This could come at a lifetime cost to the taxpayer of £10 billion, Ms Mahmood said, pointing to figures from the Migration Advisory Committee.”
Sky attributes the cost figure to the Home Secretary and names its source instead of stating it as its own fact.
“here's what could happen”
The headline presents the changes as possibilities, which matches a body built on what is "understood" and "could" happen.

Spot something we missed? Report this article

More from Sky News

Everything we scored from Sky News

Home secretary to announce new immigration rules - here's what could happen

Uses a loaded word

Gives a contested claim the last word

What it gets right

More from Sky News