Shabana Mahmood poised to massively cut back immigration crackdown in wake of demands from Labour's Left-wing
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Plans to toughen immigration rules are expected to be massively watered down on Monday after a highly damaging battle within the Labour Party.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's proposals to make low-skilled foreign migrants wait far longer for 'settled' status in Britain have been rewritten after strident opposition from her party's Left-wing.
Ms Mahmood is widely expected to capitulate despite warning just months ago that a failure to implement her original blueprint in full would cost the taxpayer £10billion.
She said that diluting the proposals would be 'an affront to the idea of fairness within our society'.
The Home Secretary also admitted that weakening the plan would put 'further strain on public services like housing and healthcare'.
The full extent of her capitulation is expected to be revealed in a statement in the Commons on Monday afternoon.
Ms Mahmood's plans triggered a massive row in the Labour Party.
Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh, seen as a rising star within the Labour Government, also attacked the proposals last month.
The full extent of Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's capitulation is expected to be revealed in a statement in the Commons later
Most migrants can currently qualify for settlement after spending five years legally in the UK, allowing them to access the full range of welfare benefits and, ultimately, to become a British citizen.
Under Ms Mahmood's original proposals, the qualification period for settled status – also known as 'indefinite leave to remain' (ILR) – would have doubled to a baseline of ten years.
Low-skilled foreign workers and anyone relying on welfare during that time would wait even longer.
The qualification period for anyone who had claimed benefits for up to 12 months would have been extended to 15 years.
If they had claimed benefits for more than a year they would have had to wait 20 years.
Anyone who entered Britain illegally – such as by small boat – would have had to wait up to 25 years before claiming settled status.
However, foreign workers in senior public sector roles – such as doctors and nurses – would have enjoyed a shorter qualification period of five years, along with others who made a contribution to society by paying higher levels of tax.
Ms Mahmood set out her original proposals to lessen the impact of between 1.3million and 2.2million foreign nationals who are due to qualify for ILR between this year and 2030.
The total includes 463,000 who came here on the foreign care worker visa, which was widely abused with fraudulent applications.
In an interview last weekend Housing Secretary Ms Rayner indicated the updated plan would be 'fair' towards foreign workers already in the country, including those in care jobs.
'I've every confidence that Shabana will come up with a fair system that is fair to the taxpayers of today, that recognises the contribution that people make who come to this country, who work in our public services,' she said.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'It's clear Shabana Mahmood has been forced to surrender to Angela Rayner and the open-borders Labour Left.
'She will now allow hundreds of thousands of low-wage and no-wage migrants to stay in the UK forever and claim benefits.
'By Mahmood's own admission in a speech this March, letting low wage care workers alone stay forever will cost taxpayers £10billion and be an "affront".
'Now she looks like she's about to do exactly that.
'After talking tough all year, Mahmood now appears to have capitulated control of immigration policy to Angela Rayner - and Mahmood's position is looking increasingly untenable.'
He added: 'The Conservative plan is a ten-year route to ILR, only for high wage workers.
'No more low-wage workers should be allowed in, and those already here should be required to leave when their temporary work visa expires.'
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