Unions urge ministers to soften planned changes to immigration rules

Trade unions are putting pressure on the government to soften proposed changes to immigration rules, which would make it harder for foreign workers to secure permanent residency in the UK.

If the plans are approved, most migrants would have to wait 10 years to qualify for permanent residence, rather than five years, while foreign workers on health and social care visas would face a 15-year wait.

The proposals were announced last year by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood , who has kept the same role under new Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

Delegates at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) backed a motion calling for any changes affecting workers already in the UK to be withdrawn.

A government spokesperson said ministers had received 200,000 responses to a consultation on the proposals, which was launched under Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and they were carefully considering them.

Giving evidence to MPs on the Commons Home Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Mahmood said technical details for her new migration system were now being worked on and she expected to announce policy later this year.

"We're trying to strike the right balance between our responsibilities to people who have come here to work, our recognition of the failures we inherited as a government, and also our need to do right by the people who are already here, who pay for the systems that we all rely on," she said.

Under the government's proposals the standard wait to qualify for settlement, also known as indefinite leave to remain, would increase to 10 years.