UK Home Secretary to unveil tougher settlement rules amid Labour tensions
Shabana Mahmood will announce final plans for indefinite leave to remain, including longer waits and possible changes for care workers, as Labour faces internal division.
The story in focus
UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is due to announce changes to indefinite leave to remain (ILR) rules, including a longer wait for most workers, with care worker provisions possibly revised. The announcement follows internal Labour opposition and is complicated by falling net migration.
- Mahmood will set out final ILR plans in a Commons statement after 3.30pm on 2 November 2026.
- Original proposals would extend the wait from five to ten years for most workers, with care workers facing 15 years.
- The BBC understands the care worker provisions are likely to be revised after internal opposition.
- Andy Burnham declined to say net migration is still too high, noting legal migration has fallen.
- Conservative and Reform UK figures criticised the expected changes as a watering down.
Settlement rules set for overhaul
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce the final version of her plans to change indefinite leave to remain (ILR) rules in the House of Commons on 2 November 2026. ILR gives people the right to live, work and study in the UK indefinitely and to access benefits if eligible.
The original proposals, unveiled last November, would require most foreign workers to wait 10 years rather than five before applying for ILR, with care workers facing a 15-year wait. They would also apply to migrants already in the UK. The BBC understands the care worker provisions are likely to be revised after opposition from within government, while most other workers will still face a 10-year wait, potentially reduced for higher earners or community contributors.
Labour divisions and political context
The plans have caused Labour tensions, with more than 100 MPs reported to be uneasy. Andy Burnham, among ministers who had argued for kinder treatment of care workers, declined to say net migration was too high in an ITV interview, saying legal migration had come down and that planned migration should follow economic gaps.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Mahmood of surrendering to the 'open-borders Labour left', while Reform UK leader Nigel Farage argued for scrapping ILR entirely. The government says the changes address the 'Boriswave' of lower-qualified workers admitted under the health and care visa.
What changes are expected to the UK's indefinite leave to remain rules?
Most foreign workers would wait 10 years instead of five for ILR, with care workers possibly seeing a revised wait after opposition. The changes would affect migrants already in the UK, and Mahmood will confirm details in a Commons statement.
Sources & further reading
- Burnham declines to say net migration still too high as Mahmood prepares to unveil tougher settlement rules – UK politics live ↗The Guardian
- Shabana Mahmood to set out changes to settlement rules for legal migrants ↗BBC
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