Labour’s latest immigration U-turn could in large part be due to lobbying by foreign nationals and taxpayer-funded pro-migration organisations.
Earlier this week, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood rowed back on proposed changes to settlement rules, after previously vowing to extend the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) qualifying period for lower-paid migrant workers, including care workers, from five to 15 years. As it turns out, this reversal was in large part due to pressure from foreign nationals and migrant-friendly charities.
The Home Office had led a consultation on the government’s proposed changes to ILR, which grants holders the right to live, work and study in Britain without restriction and to claim eligible benefits.
The consultation had sought to gather British public opinion on the issue.
However, it has since been revealed that four in five of the respondents to the government consultation were foreign nationals, and that 38 charitable organisations lobbied politicians and submitted responses to the consultation.
These charities had received a combined £1 billion of British taxpayer money from this Labour government in the past year alone. That means British people have been paying for the pleasure of being ignored by their own government.
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK’s Shadow Home Secretary, criticised the scandal: “We will listen to one voice and one voice only: The British people.”
This latest disastrous U-turn could see an estimated 280,000 foreign care workers and their dependents secure faster routes to permanent settlement – at an estimated cost of around £10 billion.
The British public never voted for the Boriswave of mass immigration – in fact, they voted for the opposite. And the biggest, most fraudulent and costly part of the Tory Boriswave, the Health and Care visa cohort, is now being given ILR and British passports. This will change Britain beyond recognition.
Yusuf said: “At a time when public services are in crisis. When you struggle to get a GP appointment… When a million young people are out of work. Enough is enough.”
Reform UK won’t allow this betrayal to continue. Reform will reverse the Boriswave and review all ILR citizenship granted by this Labour government – even stripping passports if necessary.