The House Article | The government must think again on its immigration reforms

3 min read12 min

Fairness must be at the heart of our immigration system. Fairness for the British taxpayer, and fairness for those who seek to come here in search of a better life.

What the government is proposing to do to our immigration system, retrospectively applying changes to the amount of time for those who have made Britain their home must wait for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), is the opposite of fairness.

Under the current system, migrants coming to Britain legally must wait years for proper stability. Years spent waiting to restart their lives. Frozen.

That is why ILR is so important. It offers them stability and security, the assurance that this is their home and community. Most importantly, it gives them a stake in the country.

For the thousands of migrants currently working towards ILR, they came on the promise that if they follow the rules we have set, wait the requisite number of years, and pay the right application fees, they will get that security and become part of that community. It is this promise that gives them a stake in the country.

By changing the rules and moving to an ‘Earned Settlement’ model, we are taking that stake away. Taking it away from those who have spent years working and contributing to the economy. We are moving the goalposts, and that is not fair.

It will penalise those who, for whatever reason, have received benefits. Whether it is someone working in social care receiving tax credits to make ends meet, or a victim of domestic abuse being placed in temporary accommodation, or a mother of a child receiving disability benefit.

These proposed changes have real impacts, like the constituent I met who was forced to claim Universal Credit after becoming unable to work due to his cancer diagnosis, and for whom the proposals could see decades added to his waiting time – for something entirely out of his control.

Or another constituent who has spent years setting up successful businesses in the UK, but because his earnings are not over £125,000, is included in the group whose waiting time faces being extended by years.

I am very unclear as to what it is the Home Office is trying to achieve with these reforms. These two men are not going to leave the UK, nor does my community want them to, but their lives will be made inexplicably more difficult.

Reform to our immigration system is obviously needed, but in my view, Labour’s way has always been to aspire to have a firm immigration system that is also fast, but above all, is fair.

These proposals, as they stand, will not achieve that. The government needs to think again.

Emily Thornberry is Labour MP for Islington South and Finsbury and Chair of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee