Leader of the UK Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has called on the Labour government to uphold its proposed 10-year qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), asserting that temporary work visas should not automatically lead to permanent settlement in Britain.
Badenoch's letter to Home Secretary
In a post on her X handle, Badenoch released a letter addressed to the UK’s Home Secretary, criticising efforts by some Labour lawmakers to weaken the government’s planned immigration reforms. “People who come to Britain on temporary work visas should not automatically be able to stay forever,” she wrote. “This Labour government was right to make that harder. Now their MPs want them to U-turn. Conservatives will back Labour’s original plan to help get it through Parliament.”
Warning against exempting two million migrants
The letter, jointly signed by Badenoch and Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, warned against reports that the government was considering exempting approximately two million migrants who entered the UK on work visas between 2021 and the present from the proposed changes. Describing the reported exemption as “a grave mistake,” Badenoch argued that Britain had previously experienced the consequences of allowing migrants to obtain permanent settlement too quickly. “As Conservatives learned to our cost, five years is too short a time to obtain the indefinite right to remain in the UK,” the letter stated.
Low-paid workers and economic contribution
Badenoch further argued that many migrants currently employed in low-paid and low-skilled jobs could be replaced by economically inactive British citizens if more employment opportunities were created. According to her, migrants who fail to make what she described as a significant economic contribution over a decade should return to their home countries once their temporary work visas expire. “Individuals who are not making a significant economic contribution over a ten-year period should not be allowed to stay indefinitely. Those not working, or working in low-paid jobs, should be required to go home at the end of their temporary work visa,” she wrote.
Impact on welfare system
Badenoch also maintained that granting indefinite leave to remain after just five years increases pressure on Britain’s welfare system because recipients become eligible for social benefits and can later apply for British citizenship. She argued that extending the qualifying period to 10 years would not amount to changing the rules retrospectively, stressing that temporary work visas do not confer an automatic right to permanent residence. “The government is perfectly entitled to decide at any time the rules on indefinite rights of settlement, including in relation to those here already,” she said.
Cross-party support
Offering cross-party support, Badenoch said the Conservative Party would back Labour’s original immigration proposals if they were introduced without dilution. “If you table the proposals set out last autumn in undiluted form, either in the Immigration Rules or as part of the Immigration and Asylum Bill, we will support them,” the letter said.
