𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Shabana Mahmood watered down her migrant crackdown because Andy Burnham wants to “unite the left behind him to call an election”, Kemi Badenoch declared. The Tory leader condemned the Home Secretary’s climbdown, warning of a ballooning benefits bill “because Labour is addicted to welfare”.

She added that the Conservatives – if they win the next General Election – will “review and stop” indefinite leave to remain given to foreign nationals who are not a “net contributor”. It follows the bombshell announcement from Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, who on Monday vowed to review every British passport handed out to migrants who arrived during to so-called BorisWave between 2021 and 2025.

Ms Mahmood on Monday confirmed care workers will be able to apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years – ten years before Ms Mahmood’s original proposals – if they’ve earned £25,000-per-year in the sector.

She also quietly dropped plans to restrict benefits to British citizens, watered down the qualifying period for lower-skilled, lower-paid migrants from 15 to 10 years and paved the way for illegal arrivals to settle.

Revised Home Office estimates reveal a staggering 1.9 million foreign nationals will get indefinite leave to remain by 2030, up from the estimate of 1.6 million from last November. Only 500,000 migrants will face a longer wait, with 300,000 care workers set to be spared from the crackdown which would have made it harder for them to access benefits, get a council house or free NHS treatment.

But Mrs Badenoch declared: “Shabana knows what she is doing is wrong.

“So why has she caved? It’s because Labour is addicted to welfare. And what they are doing gives potentially hundreds of thousands of low-paid foreign nationals access to a life on benefits paid for by your taxes.

“Andy Burnham thinks that is fair. It’s not fair.

“The truth is, he is appeasing the hard Left. He’s ditched the Home Secretary’s tougher proposals so that he can unite the left behind him to call an election.

Ms Mahmood said preventing 400,000 care workers and their dependants from getting ILR would save taxpayers £10bn.

But the Home Secretary conceded her u-turn would lead to much smaller savings.

And Mrs Badenoch declared: “Labour are the welfare party, obsessed with benefits, even if you’re not British. Why? Because it helps them get votes.

“Previous Conservative administrations got immigration wrong. That is why I want to make sure we fix this once and for all.

“This is a new Conservative Party. 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 and they are not a net contributor, 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.

“The days of low-skilled mass immigration must come to an end.”

And in a stark warning to Labour, Mrs Badenoch said: “I’m putting people on notice – when we get into government we will scrap this weak policy.”

Foreign care workers who do not qualify for the five-year settlement will be able to apply for a new five-year visa, and then seek settlement once that has been completed.

Ms Mahmood declined to put a figure on the cost to the country of her watered-down plan.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Tuesday: “We will set out a full impact assessment when, 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.”

She said the changes would save the Department for Work and Pensions billions in benefits payments by preventing care workers who were no longer working in the sector – “the cohort that was most likely to fall upon the state” – from securing settlement after five years and subsequently claiming benefits.

And Reform has vowed to review every British passport handed out to migrants who arrived in recent years.

Nigel Farage’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf declared: “This is another major u-turn and it’s another kick in the teeth for the British people.

“Remember, Shabana Mahmood herself called the Boris Wave a scandal. Even Keir Starmer, remember him? Keir Starmer called it a one-nation open borders experiment.

“Even the Treasury’s own numbers on their own website say that the cost of this cohort being u-turned on and being given accelerated settlement in this country will be north of £10 billion.

“Our numbers, the number will be ten times bigger than that.

“One of the most insane things about all of this is that Mahmood said that she’s going to delay settlement for the Boris Wave, except for the biggest cohort and the most financially devastating one.

“And as a result of this I’m afraid, Reform has no choice but to say that if the General Election is in 2029, unfortunately some of these people will have naturalised as citizens.

“That is something we cannot accept because it is completely against what Andy Burnham told the people of Makerfield. It’s completely against what Labour told the people of this country and it will financially devastate the country.

“That’s why Nigel and I announced we would immediately review every British passport handed out to people who would have received one as a direct result of the u-turn yesterday.”