LONDON - The Labour government has watered down its proposals for care workers' settlement eligibility, reducing the waiting period from 15 to five years for those who arrived before May 2025 and earn at least £25,000 annually, but maintained the controversial retrospective nature of the plans.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood faced a divided parliamentary party as she made a statement in the House of Commons. The amendment addresses concerns raised by figures including Angela Rayner, who described the original approach as 'un-British' for shifting 'the goalposts' retrospectively. However, the majority of Labour MPs ultimately pulled their punches during the debate.
The original proposals would have required social care workers to wait 15 years for settlement eligibility. The watered-down version reduces this to five years for qualifying care workers, while the retrospective element - requiring some migrants to wait longer despite earlier expectations - remains unchanged.
In addition to the care worker concession, the statement included new safe routes for refugees and established a 30-year wait for those who arrived in the country illegally. All settlement routes retain the usual caveats of speaking English, making national insurance contributions and having no criminal record.
The government's decision comes after renewed hope among unhappy Labour MPs following the change of prime minister over the summer. Figures including Rachael Maskell, John McDonnell and Diane Abbott criticized the retrospective nature of the plans, while others in Brexit-supporting areas urged the government to maintain the original course.
Opposition figures were quick to respond. Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp condemned the changes as an 'open-doors policy', stating the government should be ashamed. Former Home Office minister Edward Leigh criticised his former colleagues, saying they should 'wear sackcloth and ashes'. Nigel Farage and Zia Yusuf held a separate press conference calling for mass deportations.
Mahmood, for her part, gave away as much as she was going to, stating the Labour party would 'just have to live with it'. The statement represents a significant but partial concession to backbench pressure, with the government maintaining its overall framework on earned settlement.
