LIVERPOOL, England (Reuters) -Britain will consider tightening the rules over how migrants can settle permanently in the country by making applicants prove their value to society, interior minister Shabana Mahmood will say on Monday.
The plan is the latest government effort to dent the rising popularity of the populist Reform UK party, which has led the debate on tackling immigration and forced Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party to toughen its policies.
Most migrants can currently apply for “indefinite leave to remain” after five years of living in Britain, a status that gives them the right to live permanently in the country.
In her first speech to Labour Party conference as interior minister, Mahmood will say the government is considering making changes so people will only qualify for this status if they pay social security contributions, have a clean criminal record and do not claim benefits.
The government is considering only allowing people to qualify if they can speak English to a high standard and have a record of volunteering in their communities, Mahmood will say, according to extracts of her speech released by Labour.
A consultation on the proposals will be launched later this year, she will say.
Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK, which is leading in opinion polls, said last week it was considering scrapping “indefinite leave to remain”, and replacing it with a five-year renewable work visa.
Starmer accused Reform on Sunday of planning a “racist policy” of mass deportations that would “tear this country apart”.
Immigration has long been one of the most important issues for voters in Britain. Controlling the number of arrivals was a key factor in the 2016 vote to leave the European Union, yet net arrivals hit record levels after Britain left the bloc.
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill;Editing by Elizabeth Piper and Helen Popper)
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