Migrants handed permanent leave to live in Britain under Labour‘s botched reforms will face being stripped of the status by a future Tory Government, Kemi Badenoch has revealed.
The Conservative leader said foreign workers who fail to make a ‘net contribution’ to the country will lose so-called settled status, also known as ‘indefinite leave to remain’ (ILR).
Mrs Badenoch said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had ‘given up’ on an earlier pledge to stop low-paid migrants securing ILR because Labour is ‘addicted to welfare’.
She said Prime Minister Andy Burnham had ‘ditched the Home Secretary’s tougher proposals so that he can unite the Left behind him, and call an election’.
Ms Mahmood revealed on Monday that she is exempting almost 300,000 foreign care workers from a crackdown which would have seen them waiting years longer for ILR.
A range of concessions to Labour MPs who opposed Ms Mahmood’s original plan mean that out of 1.9million foreign nationals due to become eligible for settlement by 2030, only 500,000 will end up waiting longer.
In a social media video, Mrs Badenoch said: ‘Labour are the Welfare Party, obsessed with benefits – even if you’re not British.
‘Why? Because it helps them get votes.
Kemi Badenoch said that migrants handed ILR under Labour’s new rules will face having it taken away under a future Tory Government if they are not ‘net contributors’ to the UK
‘Conservatives believe that you should not get permanent settlement or access to benefits as a foreign national if you are not a net contributor.
‘We need people who are going to contribute to our country, not make us poorer.’
She went on: ‘So here’s what we’ll do: indefinite leave to remain will no longer be a guaranteed ticket to benefits.
‘If someone arrives in this country under those previous rules and they’re granted ILR by the Labour government, if they’re not a net contributor to our country we will review and stop their indefinite leave to remain.
‘I will not allow Andy Burnham’s capitulation to cost you and your family more money.’
More detail on how they will define ‘net contributors’ is expected to be unveiled by the Conservatives later.
‘Citizenship is something special, so no benefits, no social housing for non-citizens, a higher salary threshold, and an annual cap on immigration numbers.
‘The days of low-skilled mass immigration must come to an end.’
Mrs Badenoch said Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood had been forced to U-turn on her previous, tougher plans because Labour is ‘addicted to welfare’
Ms Mahmood unveiled the watered-down plans in the Commons on Monday
It came after the Home Secretary’s U-turn descended into chaos on Monday as she refused to reveal how much her climbdown will cost the taxpayer.
Ms Mahmood had said in March that failing to prevent foreign care workers who arrived in Britain between 2022 and 2024 from securing ILR would carry a lifetime cost to the taxpayer of £10billion.
But now she has refused to specify the cost of her new, watered-down measures.
She acknowledged the U-turn ‘does have an impact’ on the amount the Government will be able to cut from the cost to the public purse.
Ms Mahmood told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘We will set out a full impact assessment… around the period we lay the immigration rules before Parliament that will set out the full expected impacts.
‘There will be savings in the billions but, of course, allowing people to settle at five years, given the unique contribution of care workers in particular, obviously that does have an impact on the numbers.’
Asked if her reputation had been undermined after being over-ruled by the PM, Ms Mahmood did not give a direct answer but insisted the new measures had always been subject to consultation and the final plan still amounted to a ‘significant change’.
