Conservative leader’s spokesperson sets out plan to strip the right of indefinite leave to remain from people claiming benefits
The Conservative MP Katie Lam was “broadly in line” with party policy when she called for very large numbers of legally settled people to be deported from the UK, Kemi Badenoch’s spokesperson has said.
Setting out Tory plans to retrospectively strip the right of indefinite leave to remain (ILR) from people who claim benefits, the spokesperson said this would not be the case for people getting the state pension, but was unable to say whether someone could be deported if they received statutory maternity pay or shared parental leave.
Speaking after prime minister’s questions, he said the key to whether or not someone was deported was if they were a “net contributor” in terms of tax and benefits, even though the party’s policy says this would happen if someone on ILR received “any form of social protection”, an official term covering most benefits.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Lam, a Home Office shadow minister and whip, said many people would need to lose their ILR status in order to ensure the UK is mostly “culturally coherent”, prompting criticism from other parties.
