LONDON – Britain’s Labour government has proposed sweeping new rules for migrants seeking permanent residency, in an effort to counter the growing popularity of the anti-immigrant Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage.
Under the new plan, migrants applying for indefinite leave to remain must hold a job, avoid claiming benefits, make social security contributions, and perform volunteer community work. They must also have a clean criminal record. Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood told Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, “You must earn the right,” adding that consultations on the changes will begin later this year.
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Currently, those with family in the UK or ten years of legal residence can qualify for permanent stay and eventually citizenship. Mahmood said the reforms are necessary to restore “order and control” at Britain’s borders, where 32,000 migrants have crossed from France this year alone.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer called Reform’s demand to scrap indefinite residency “racist and immoral,” but critics within Labour argue the new proposals echo Reform’s rhetoric. Civil society groups have urged the government to end the “scapegoating” of migrants, warning that tougher rules could harm vulnerable communities.
