The home secretary Shabana Mahmood has set out a series of changes Labour will look to make to the process for migrants looking to settle in the United Kingdom.
Speaking in Liverpool at the Labour Party’s Annual Conference, Mahmood said that the government would look to increase the time someone must have lived in the country to earn indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom from five years to 10.
The announcement comes after Nigel Farage pledged to abolish the right for ILR and require migrants to reapply for visas every five years if Reform wins the next general election.
Mahmood also set out a series of tests that migrants would have to meet to earn ILR: “Being in work, making National Insurance contributions, not taking a penny in benefits, learning English to a high standard, having no criminal record”.
She added that migrants would also have to demonstrate that they have "truly given back to your community, such as volunteering your time to a local cause. Without meeting those conditions, I do not believe your ability to stay in this country should be automatic,” Mahmood said.
Mahmood said that the government would soon consult on the proposed changes, which are not expected to be retrospectively applied.
Last week, Starmer set out plans to introduce Digital ID cards, saying it would help to tackle illegal immigration.
On Monday in Liverpool, Mahmood expanded on the tougher set of measures Labour would be taking to bring down net migration.
Speaking to delegates, Mahmood said that between 2021 and 2024, 2.6m more people entered the country than left it.
“Far too many have been able to enter this country and disappear into the black economy. A rank betrayal of the Tories’ old promise that they would take back control... We need a system that is fair to people who are already here. That means cracking down on illegal working that undercuts British workers.”
Mahmood also indicated that she was willing to be unpopular when it came to introducing measures to stop migrants arriving in the UK in small boats.
“In solving this crisis, you may not always like what I do," she said.
"We will have to question some of the assumptions and legal constraints that have lasted for a generation and more."
“But unless we have control of our borders and until we can decide who comes in and who must leave, we will never be the open, tolerant and generous country that I know we all believe in.”
Referring to the Unite the Kingdom rally that took place in London earlier in September in which 26 police officers were injured, Mahmood said that “while not everyone chanted racist slogans, some did.”
“To dismiss what happened that day would be to ignore something bigger, something broader that is happening across this country. The story of who we are is contested,” Mahmood added.
Later in her speech, Mahmood said: “Patriotism, a force for good, is turning into something smaller, something more like ethnonationalism that struggles to accept that someone who looks like me and has a faith like mine can truly be English or British."
Mahmood said that there are some in the country who are "on a path from patriotism to ethnonationalism and this can be stopped".
“But to do so, we have to understand why so many people feel this country is not working for them. Because the truth is across this country, people feel like things are spinning out of control and without control we simply do not have the conditions in which our country can be open, tolerant and generous."
Following Mahmood’s announcement, more than 100 organisations, including the PCS union, sent an open letter to the home secretary calling for an end to “scapegoating" of migrants.
“The government wants to deliver growth and renew Britain," the letter said. "This requires tackling issues such as growing extreme inequality, underfunded councils, lack of investment in quality housing, a crumbling NHS, the climate emergency and polluted waters.
“Targeting refugees will do nothing to tackle these structural issues or improve people’s lives. It only serves as a dangerous smokescreen to scapegoat the most vulnerable and distract from the very real dangers to our society.”
This article was written by Matilda Martin, a reporter at PoliticsHome, where this story first appeared. Additional reporting by Sienna Rodgers. Edits and additional reporting for CSW by Tevye Markson