Some immigrants may get “special treatment” and be exempted from a crackdown that will make it harder to settle in the UK, the Home Secretary has suggested.
Shabana Mahmood highlighted the prospect of transitional arrangements for certain groups of people, suggesting the likes of spouses and older people could be among those shielded from her plans to double the default qualifying time for permanent residency in the UK.
Mahmood’s proposals to make most immigrants wait at least 10, rather than five, years for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) and to apply it retrospectively to people already in the UK have triggered a major backlash, including from many Labour MPs.
Shorts
She defended the plans and insisted that applying them to people already in the UK was in line with settled case law as set out in the courts, arguing that a departure from this would be a “very big change” and “would drive a coach and horses through a government’s legitimate ability to control the border”.
