Four in five people who took the Home Office's immigration poll were NOT British, figures show
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Less than one in five respondents to the Home Office's consultation on tougher immigration rules for migrants were British citizens, official figures show.
More than 200,000 people put forward their views to shape Labour's policy for indefinite leave to remain - which gives the right to live in the UK - an astonishing 73 per cent of whom were current visa holders.
And the Home Office admitted that even the 18 per cent of Britons who responded 'may include spouses and family members of visa holders'.
The Conservatives responded last night that migrants with a vested interest in weakening a proposed immigration crackdown 'unsurprisingly said they wanted laxer rules'.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said that the only shocking thing was that Shabana Mahmood backtracked because 'immigrants replying to her consultation asked her to'.
The Centre for Migration Control think tank said: 'Our immigration policy is now being decided by those who are not even citizens of this country.'
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood pictured making a statement in the Commons yesterday on changes to the country's indefinite leave to remain policy
The consultation also attracted a high proportion of ethnic minority respondents. Some 51 per cent identified as Asian or British Asian, while 19 per cent identified as White.
A further 12 per cent were Black or Black British, and three per cent identified as mixed or multiple ethnic groups, the Home Office figures show.
Mr Philp told the Mail: 'An astonishing 73 per cent of respondents to the Home Office consultation were migrants - who unsurprisingly said they wanted laxer rules.
'What's really shocking is that Shabana Mahmood rolled over and just agreed. Her U-turn today will see hundreds of thousands of low-skill care workers stay here forever - getting citizenship and entitlement to full benefits, even though many are fraudulent.
'Shabana Mahmood admitted that the cost of this is £10billion - but she did it anyway because Angela Rayner and all the immigrants replying to her consultation asked her to.'
- READ MORE: Mahmood's '£10billion migrant climbdown': Home Secretary abandons tougher residency rules after backbench revolt
- READ MORE: Just a quarter of arrivals will have to wait longer for leave to remain, Mahmood reveals in her watered-down plans
- QUENTIN LETTS: Shabana Mahmood didn't so much deliver her speech as pebble-dash it at her audience
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