Shabana Mahmood is set to announce a major crackdown on migration through a radical overhaul of the main route for immigrants gaining British citizenship in the UK.
Under tougher measures set to be unveiled by the home secretary, migrants who want to remain in the UK will have to learn English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community to be eligible for indefinite leave to remain. They will also have to be working, paying national insurance and not be claiming benefits under the proposed changes.
Ms Mahmood will lay out the plans while billing herself as a “tough home secretary” and admitting that some Labour members “won’t always like what I do”.
But speaking on the second day of Labour’s annual party conference in Liverpool, she will also say she is “fighting for a vision of this country that is distinctly our own”.
Labour’s latest announcement comes just days after Nigel Farage announced plans to abolish indefinite leave to remain, meaning tens of thousands of people who have legally settled in Britain could be at risk of deportation – a policy Sir Keir Starmer branded both “racist” and “immoral” on Sunday morning.
As Reform surges in the polls – with the party currently on track to win the most parliamentary seats if an election were held – the government is attempting to persuade voters it can be trusted on migration.
But critics have rounded on Labour’s latest plans, with the Refugee Council accusing the government of “punishing refugees for needing help”.
Meanwhile, Minnie Rahman, CEO of refugee charity Praxis, accused the government of pursuing proposals that would create a “two-tier society” on the “very same day the PM finally distances himself from Reform UK’s policies”.
It came after the prime minister warned that Mr Farage’s plan to scrap indefinite leave to remain would “rip this country apart”.
“We are a proud, tolerant country… And we are a diverse country where people have come here for centuries to this country to make up who we are,” he told the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
“It is one thing to say we’re going to remove illegal migrants, people who have no right to be here. I’m up for that. It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach in to people who are lawfully here and start removing them.
“They are our neighbours. They’re people who work in our economy. They are part of who we are. It will rip this country apart.”
He added: “I do think that is a racist policy. I do think it’s immoral, it needs to be called out for what it is.”
Labour argued there is a “dividing line” between the government’s proposals and Reform UK’s pledge to scrap settled status for all non-EU migrants.
But Enver Solomon, CEO at the Refugee Council, said: “Far from encouraging integration and contribution, these conditions risk erecting more barriers for refugees.
“We know that refugees want to feel part of, and give back to, the country that has provided them with safety. So many refugees have received their indefinite leave to remain and built lives as doctors, entrepreneurs and other professionals.
“But that might not have been possible without a safety net. It is much harder for a refugee to find their feet straight away without relying on benefits at all – especially if they have been given less than 30 days to find somewhere to live. Almost all people seeking asylum are not allowed to work and are forced to rely on state support.”
He added: “By punishing refugees for needing help, we are saying to them that no matter how hard you work in the future, you’ll never have a safe permanent home in Britain. This is the opposite of encouraging integration and contribution.”
Meanwhile, Ms Rahman said: “On the very same day the PM finally distances himself from Reform UK’s policies, his own home secretary announces proposals that would create a two-tier society.
“This would prevent millions of people who have lived and worked in the UK for years, from ever having equal rights to British people.”
She also accused the home secretary of having “bypassed the voluntary sector entirely” with their proposals that migrants would need to be doing some volunteer work to prove they are contributing to society.
“Volunteering is – by definition – a choice. It’s deeply concerning that the new home secretary seems not to grasp that basic principle,” she said.
“Charitable leaders, like myself, will not participate in a scheme that would create discrimination and division in our communities.”
A consultation on the changes will be launched later this year. It is understood that the Home Office has not yet decided what the penalty for having previously claimed benefits would be as it is expected to be subject to consultation, but it is understood that it could be an outright disqualification or a delay beyond the current threshold to qualify.
In its white paper published in May, the government also pledged to increase the amount of time migrants have to wait before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK to 10 years.
Currently, most migrants who come to Britain on time-limited work visas can make an application for indefinite leave to remain after five years.
Indefinite leave to remain is the status which grants legal migrants the ability to settle in the UK without the need to renew a visa every few years.
In her speech, Ms Mahmood is also expected to express her fears that “patriotism, a force for good, is turning into something smaller, something more like ethno-nationalism”.
She will argue her toughness on secure borders, fair migration and safe streets are essential components of an “open, generous, tolerant” country.
Ms Mahmood will speak about her parents’ experience of arriving in the UK, arguing the acceptance of migrants depends on their contribution to local communities.
Additionally, she is expected to refer to her personal experience of shoplifting while working behind the till of her family’s corner shop as a child.
The home secretary will launch a “winter of action” scheme in a bid to tackle shoplifting.
