UK Politics
Mahmood’s U-Turn: 282,000 Spared Longer Wait to Settle in Britain as Tories Warn of £10bn Bill
Shabana Mahmood has dropped the 15-year wait for care workers to settle, sparing 282,000 people, as the Tories call it a U-turn that could cost £10bn.
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Should Shabana Mahmood have backed down and let care workers settle in Britain after five years?
News | By Matt, Editor
Shabana Mahmood has backed down. The Home Secretary told MPs on Monday afternoon that migrant care workers already in Britain will no longer face a 15-year wait to settle here for good. Those who arrived before May 2025 and earned at least £25,000 a year in care will keep their five-year path to indefinite leave to remain, the right to live in the UK permanently (GOV.UK).
The change spares around 282,000 people from a longer wait, BBC News reported. Under her original plan, 799,000 people would have had their settlement delayed. That figure now falls to 517,000. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called it “a U-turn” and claimed it could cost taxpayers £10 billion.
This morning we reported that she was set for a U-turn after a revolt led by Angela Rayner. That is what happened.
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Key facts
- Care workers who came before May 2025, met their visa conditions and earned £25,000 a year can settle after five years, not 15.
- Care workers who broke their visa conditions, about a quarter of those who came between 2022 and 2025, get a “second chance”: a new five-year care visa, then a fresh chance to settle (GOV.UK).
- The same deal covers some health and education public sector workers, such as auxiliary nurses.
- For most other migrants, including anyone earning under £50,000, the standard wait doubles from five years to 10.
- Earners over £125,000 can settle after three years. Those over £50,000, plus doctors, nurses and teachers, stay on five years.
- Small boat arrivals who work or study face 20 years, and 30 years if they do not.
- Government sources told the BBC there will be no Commons vote. The changes come in through the immigration rules “over the course of 2027” (Electronic Immigration Network).
What she said
Ms Mahmood told the Commons that between 2022 and 2025, 250,000 people and their dependants came on, or switched into, the care visa. She admitted the route “was abused”, with “fraudulent and exploitative companies” and people who “came here knowing there was no job they could fill”.
Yet those who broke their visa terms will still be offered another five-year visa, and will not be tied to their old employer. “No one will be punished for the sins of their employer,” she said. The Government says it has stripped around 1,800 rogue firms of their licences.
She insisted the reform still stands. “The right to live in this country forever must now be earned,” she said, claiming the plan will cut the benefits bill “by billions of pounds”. No full impact assessment has been published yet; she said one will follow as the rules come in (GOV.UK).
Papers published alongside her statement showed the public consultation drew 204,667 online responses. Nearly three in four individual responses came from current visa holders, and only 18% from British citizens, the BBC reported. Most respondents opposed the plans.
‘Dismantled in 12 short minutes’
Mr Philp said it took Ms Mahmood a year to “build her reputation as tough on immigration”, but she had dismantled it “in 12 short minutes”. He warned: “If she capitulates to the open borders Left, her credibility as home secretary will not recover.”
He said the Conservatives would have voted for her original plan, and asked why care workers who “arrived fraudulently” should be allowed to stay for good.
Ms Mahmood hit back, demanding the Tories apologise for their “abject track record” and claiming Labour has cut net migration by 82%.
Rayner and the Labour left
The climbdown followed months of pressure from inside Labour. In June, Ms Rayner, now Housing Secretary, called the 15-year wait for care workers “un-British”. Unions, care providers and London mayor Sadiq Khan also pushed back, The Guardian reported. Ms Mahmood met union general secretaries on Monday to settle the final details.
Ms Rayner was in the Commons earlier but did not stay for the statement, the BBC said. Backbenchers Diane Abbott, John McDonnell and Stella Creasy raised concerns, but “largely pulled their rhetorical punches”. The left still has one complaint: most migrants already here will now wait 10 years, not five. See how Ms Mahmood first gave ground to Ms Rayner in October.
Burnham: ‘only fair’
Prime Minister Andy Burnham backed his Home Secretary in a press release. “It is only fair that those who are making the most valuable contribution to our communities are given the opportunity to settle earlier,” he said. “Following Brexit, the previous government lost control of immigration.” Earlier on Monday he said it was “difficult to say” if migration is too high.
Care bosses relieved
Nadra Ahmed, chair of the National Care Association, told the BBC the change gives care bosses “breathing space”, as they are “not going to lose a whole tranche” of their workforce. Foreign workers make up a third of staff in England’s independent care sector, according to Skills for Care. The Lib Dems said Labour’s reforms were “unravelling”.
Reform: ‘The Boriswave must be reversed’
Nigel Farage called it a “very major U-turn” that will cost the country “a vast amount of money”, and said Reform would review every citizenship granted under the new rules. Reform’s Robert Jenrick said Ms Mahmood had been “humiliated”.
Our view
This section is opinion.
Ms Mahmood spent a year telling Britain that settlement must be earned. In March she said settling low-skilled arrivals would be a £10 billion drain. Today she carved out the biggest group, and even those who broke the rules get a second go. Her own words say the care route was abused. Her own consultation was mostly answered by people with a stake in the result.
This is a Government that folds whenever its own left pushes. Mr Burnham promised control. Instead, Ms Rayner won, while 10,000 have crossed the Channel since he took office. Ministers also say employers are not working people and that workers with no right to work can sue their bosses. Read our Sunday warning on this climbdown.
Should Shabana Mahmood have backed down and let care workers settle in Britain after five years? Vote in our poll below.
Sources
- GOV.UK, Home Secretary’s statement on earned settlement, 2 November 2026
- BBC News live, 2 November 2026
- The Guardian, 2 November 2026
- The Independent (PA), 2 November 2026
- Electronic Immigration Network, 2 November 2026
- Posts on X by Sky News, BBC Politics, Chris Philp, Nigel Farage and Robert Jenrick, 2 November 2026
- Main image: Shabana Mahmood. Photo: Andy Taylor / UK Home Office, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
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Mahmood Set for U-Turn on Migrants’ Right to Settle After Rayner Revolt, as Reform Vows to Fight ‘Betrayal’
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