Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has signalled she is willing to rethink plans to make it harder for foreign workers to claim permanent residence in the UK.
The home secretary has been under pressure to water down the proposals from a significant number of Labour MPs, including Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, and trade unions.
In a speech to Labour’s annual conference, Mahmood acknowledged “some have said elements of these reforms are not fair”.
And she said the government would “come to a position that balances fairness for those who came here legally and fairness to British citizens across this country”.
Permanent residence, or indefinite leave to remain, gives a person the right to live, work and study in the UK for as long as they like and apply for benefits if they are eligible.
Mahmood suggested doubling the time it takes for most migrants to qualify for the right from five to 10 years.
Under the proposals, people who arrived on health and social care visas would face a 15-year wait, while those who relied on benefits for more than 12 months would have to wait 20 years.
Earlier this year, when Rayner was a backbench MP, she accused the government of “moving the goalposts”, branding Mahmood’s plans “un-British” – and then stuck with her criticisms when she re-joined the cabinet.
Andrea Egan, general secretary of Unison, said the proposed changes would unfairly penalise overseas care workers.
Home Office sources insist no final decision on changes to the immigration rules have been taken, and Mahmood was setting out the principles that would guide her in her conference speech.
The home secretary told delegates: “As we restore control and fairness to our asylum system, we must do the same for legal migration too.
“Fair to those who seek a new and better life here, like my parents did, and fair to those already here, including British workers, and especially the young.
“That same principle underpins my reforms to the right to live here indefinitely, ensuring settled status is earned by those who have shown a consistent commitment to this country.”
And she vowed to come up with a policy that was fair to those who “came here legally” and to British citizens.
A Conservative spokesperson said: “Shabana Mahmood has caved in to pressure from Angela Rayner and her open borders MPs and will shred her own plans to reform indefinite leave to remain.
“This is a slap in the face to British taxpayers who will have to subsidise low-skilled, low wage migrants.”
Speaking earlier, Prime Minister Andy Burnham denied Mahmood had been forced to ditch the plans because Rayner viewed them as “un-British”, saying the reforms would need to “strike the right balance”.
Asked whether he was “Team Shabana” or “Team Angela,” he told LBC: “I’m both of them, I’m Team Angela and Shabana.
“But it just reflects that there’s a consultation, there’s different not just opinions from politicians, but obviously there’s a range of views that have gone into that consultation, so we’re in the process now of looking at that.”
