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Shabana Mahmood has “caved in” over migrant settlement rights following a furious backlash from her own Cabinet colleagues, trade union barons and left-wing campaigners.

The Home Secretary 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.

Analysis of the Home Office consultation document revealed 160,000 foreign nationals – 83% – replied to Ms Mahmood’s initial plans, casting serious doubt on its legitimacy with critics branding it a “farce”. The Home Secretary had insisted her original plans were essential to save taxpayers £10bn.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp: “Shabana Mahmood has caved in to pressure from Angela Rayner and the open borders left.

“Over 250,000 low wage care workers and dependents – even ones who came fraudulently – will now get to stay for at least ten years and 75% of them can now stay forever.

“The government’s own figures show the cost of this to taxpayers is £10 billion. This is completely unfair to hard-pressed taxpayers.

“The Government also said today that illegal immigrants will have a path to citizenship and full benefits. My view is that illegal immigrants should never get citizenship.

“And foreign citizens, excluding EU Settlement Scheme recipients, should never get benefits to end abuse of hard-working taxpayers.

“It is astonishing 73% 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. The Home Secretary has lost all credibility.”

Reform’s Zia Yusuf told the Daily Express: “She isn’t U-turning and changing requirements, loosening the requirements for an insignificant part of the “Boris Wave”.

“She’s doing it for the largest, most financially devastating cohort.”

Mr Yusuf accused Ms Mahmood of “capitulating to Angela Rayner, and the same cabal of mad far-left Labour MPs who also torpedoed the welfare reforms.”

He added: “That is a clue about what is about to come.

“The population explosion inflicted on Britain by the Tories and by Labour has brought this country to the brink, for many of our public services, of collapse. And it’s also a key reason why people voted for Brexit.

“The whole idea was we were going to take back control. And we did that. And what did Boris Johnson and the Tories do? They used that control to throw open our borders.

“We’ve got a situation where she has announced that, having originally recognised the scandal of the “Boris Wave”, and that it was going to be a fiscal catastrophe… and we’re in this insane situation where she’s announced that the cohort that will be exempt.”

In a second major climbdown, the Home Office confirmed it is letting lower-skilled, lower-paid migrant workers apply for settlement rights after 10 years, rather than the 15 years Labour originally proposed in November last year. This new arrangement will apply to anyone holding a job below graduate level.

Refugees who arrived on a “safe and legal route” will be put on the same five-year settlement path as migrants earning more than £50,000, under revised Home Office plans. Small boat migrants face a 30-year wait, unless they study or work and it then falls to 20 years.

The Centre for Migration Control warned Labour is also paving the way for family members of “low-skill” migrants to settle “at the same time”.

Under the Home Office’s new plans, migrants will only get indefinite leave to remain if they have a “spotless criminal record”, speak English to the equivalent of A-level standard, have no debt owed to the taxpayer and a “record of sustained National Insurance contributions”. Any criminality will lead to automatic refusal, sources say.

Left-wing MPs and union chiefs seized on the climbdown – and immediately demanded more.

UNISON general secretary Andrea Egan said: “UNISON has led the charge against the home secretary’s plans, with migrant workers themselves organising an inspiring campaign through the union. So, we are glad she has finally listened to us and not implemented the worst aspects.

“These plans were morally bankrupt and a threat to public services – they should be dropped altogether.

“The government has spent a year attacking workers who are the backbone of our health and social care system, in a futile attempt to appease the far-right. It’s time to stop demonising migrant workers and start celebrating their contribution.”

On care workers, Ms Egan added: “We urgently need a sector-wide visa for social care, ending a system that ties migrant care workers to a single employer and leaves them vulnerable to exploitation, extortion and abuse.

“The power of employers to threaten workers with deportation or disrupt their route to settlement must end.”

Veteran Labour MP Diane Abbott still criticised the proposals as ‘unfair’ and compared them to the Windrush scandal.

She told the Commons: “It is right that care workers are exempted from the new arrangements for ILR, but for the rest of the workforce, the retrospective nature of these new arrangements still seem to be unfair.

“Because you can come in legally, you can work legally, and then have your residency rights turned upside down. How can that be fair?”

The Home Secretary defended her original proposals by arguing criminal gangs – including drug dealers – had exploited the health and care visa, setting up fraudulent companies and scamming people hoping to move to the UK.

She even recalled one constituent declaring: “Every drug dealer in Birmingham is now becoming a care provider”.

And Reform UK leader Nigel Farage warned Britain has become the “softest touch in the World”, adding, “this is the first crack in the wall”, with more concessions set to follow.

He said: “Look, in normal countries all around the world: you go on a work visa, you’re given a period of time, you have your health insurance, you can’t bring your extended family, and after 5 years, 7 years, 8 years, 10 years, whatever it is, you may have the option to settle for citizenship.

“But more than likely, you’ll be told your time is up, and if you don’t leave on that date, they’ll knock your door down and put you in handcuffs. That’s what normal countries do.

“We’ve become the complete opposite – the softest touch in the world, at a massive cost to the working people.

“Today is the first crack in the wall, the first climbdown from her original position, and I believe it’s only going to get worse.”

Mr Farage’s party has vowed to review every single citizenship grant – which typically comes a year after ILR is granted – if they win the next General Election.

Reform’s Robert Jenrick added: “Only 18% of those who responded to Labour’s consultation on immigration were even British! No wonder they wanted open borders. And Labour agreed with them! What a farce.”

Some 4.2 million migrants moved to the UK between 2021 and 2024.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood blamed the Conservatives for the migrant crisis, before adding: “Sometimes because of fraudulent and exploitative companies and sometimes because individuals themselves came here knowing there was no job they could fill.

“A fair solution must address both sides of this.

“Recognising the service of those who cared for our sick and elderly at a time of immense national need and also addressing the abuse that was present on this route.

“Everyone will have a fair shot to make their contribution, and no one will be punished for the sins of their employer, but we will also preserve the critical element of this reform: that settlement must be linked to contribution.”