Angela Rayner has hit out at Shabana Mahmood’s plans to make it harder for migrant workers to claim settled status in the UK, warning it would “change the goalposts”, reports BritPanorama.
In an interview with The Times on the eve of Labour’s party conference in Liverpool, the communities secretary and former deputy prime minister stood by her previous description of the home secretary’s plans as “un-British”.
The proposed reforms will increase the timeline for permanent residence from five years to 15 years for foreign social care workers, affecting all those who have arrived in the UK since 2021.
The plans face opposition from other Labour figures and could spark discord during the conference, which begins in earnest in the prime minister’s native Merseyside on Sunday.
When asked if she had discussed the issue with Mahmood, Rayner stated, “I think Shabana knows. It was in the newspaper at the time. I have not changed my view on that.”
“Especially in regards to the carers, who were asked to come to this country to care for some of our most vulnerable and then we changed the goalposts years down the line, I think that’s very disruptive,” she added.
Culture secretary Lisa Nandy, however, disagreed, saying she does not believe the planned changes to migration law are “un-British.”
“I don’t think that we’ve ever had an automatic right to citizenship for most people who come to the UK from overseas,” she remarked. “The home secretary is trying to balance the respect and gratitude that we all feel to people who come to this country, who make a contribution with the need for an immigration system the public can have confidence in.”
This comes after another challenging week for the Home Office regarding small boat crossings, with over 700 people arriving in the UK on Wednesday alone. Two vessels landed undetected on British shores within two days.
While this year’s total of crossings stands at 18,609, it marks a 42 per cent decline compared to the same period last year and a 26% decrease compared to the same time in 2024.
Andy Burnham has claimed that Brexit has hampered government efforts to stop migrants crossing the Channel in inflatable dinghies.
He noted that there has been a “loss of collaboration with neighbours” since the UK left the EU, with smuggling gangs adapting their methods following increased scrutiny.
A recent incident involved a boat carrying 51 migrants, which spent over 30 hours at sea after departing from close to Vierville-sur-Mer, west of Bayeux. This departure point is atypical, given the longer distance to traverse the Channel.
The ongoing arrival of small boats has prompted several demonstrations. Recently, six individuals were arrested during protests in Gosport, Hampshire, where some participants wore dark clothing and face coverings, chanting “send them back.”
Earlier this month, demonstrators blocked road access to the port in Dover.
Burnham remarked that attending a protest dressed in black and wearing a face covering is “not the British way.”
“I recognise the concern that many people in the public have around immigration. But this is something different,” he stated to ITV Meridian. “You don’t take it out on the police. You don’t attack the police. You don’t intimidate the rest of the public.”
The complexities surrounding immigration and migration policy in the UK continue to evolve as various factions within the Labour Party express differing views. The outcome of these discussions could significantly influence future legislation and party unity.
