Immigration fears as the number of new permanent settlers is unveiled
Thousands of migrants are being granted leave to remain each week (Image: Getty)
More than 200,000 people have been granted indefinite leave to remain since ministers proposed tough restrictions last year. Thousands of migrants are settling permanently in Britain every week, which gives them entitlement to lifetime benefits, NHS care and social housing.
At least 5,000 people who have lived here for five years – having legally arrived on visas – gain settlement each week, figures have suggested. Experts predict the figure will leap significantly in a few months when people who arrived during the pandemic gain the right to claim indefinite leave to remain. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “Every single day, hundreds of mainly low-wage or no-wage immigrants get the right to stay here permanently and claim benefits.
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“Yet Shabana Mahmood continues to refuse to implement her own indefinite leave to remain changes to stop this – which she herself admits are needed to save £10billion.”
Speaking to the Daily Mail, he added: “Why is she delaying? It’s because she’s scared of Angela Rayner and the Left of the Labour Party, and she hasn’t got the courage to implement her own plans.
“The Government is on the verge of capitulating, letting hundreds of thousands of low-wage and no-wage migrants stay forever.”
Ministers have proposed tougher restrictions on legal migrants being able to claim indefinite leave to remain, but Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood recently signalled that she may have to water down those plans. Ms Rayner has said she is concerned about Labour’s proposals to change visa rules, which would make it harder for foreign workers to secure permanent residency in the UK.
Without reforms, 1.6million people would be entitled to settle in the UK between 2026 and 2030.
Reform UK home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf said Ms Mahmood had “capitulated to Labour’s open-borders zealots”.
He added: “Labour’s internal bickering means thousands more will get indefinite leave to remain and unfettered access to our welfare system, all because Andy Burnham cannot control Rayner or his backbenchers.”
A consultation on migration proposal, which received 200,000 responses, closed in February but the Home Office has not responded. Immigration rules were updated last week with no mention of ILR.
The Home Office said: “We are considering responses to our consultation on elements of these reforms.”