Leader of the UK Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has urged the Labour government to retain its proposed 10-year qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain (ILR), insisting that temporary work visas should not automatically lead to permanent settlement in Britain.
Badenoch made the call in a post on her X handle on Monday while releasing a letter addressed to the UK’s Home Secretary, in which she criticised efforts by some Labour lawmakers to dilute 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.”
In the letter, jointly signed by Badenoch and Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, the Conservatives warned against reports that the government was considering exempting around two million migrants who entered the UK on work visas between 2021 and the present from the proposed changes.
