Kemi Badenoch vows to strip settled status from migrants who are granted it under Shabana Mahmood's care worker U-turn
Mencap, the learning disabilities charity that publicly opposed Shabana Mahmood's earned-settlement principle, received more than £200m in public funds — the most of the 38 charities that lobbied ministers to dilute the crackdown.The lifetime net fiscal cost of settling care workers and their adult dependants in the UK between 2026 and 2030, which Charity Praxis helped lobby against by bringing over 500 people to Parliament to press around 100 MPs.Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader, whose party said applicants who do not add value to Britain should have their citizenship rescinded, as Barnardo's — which received £192m in public money — told peers it opposed earned settlement as a basis for determining whether children could live safely in the UK.Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester, with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, as Shabana Mahmood acknowledged her revised plans will save less than the original £10 billion estimate.
Kemi Badenoch has pledged that a future Conservative government will revoke indefinite leave to remain from any migrant who receives it under Labour's diluted care worker policy unless they qualify as a "net contributor" to the UK. Badenoch claimed Andy Burnham abandoned Mahmood's stricter proposals to consolidate support on the Labour left before an election, and accused Labour of being "addicted to welfare — even if you're not British." The revised rules will shield roughly 282,000 care workers from delayed settlement, drawn from the 1.9 million foreign nationals set to become eligible by 2030.
Mahmood conceded the U-turn will deliver savings "in the billions" but admitted the figure falls short of the £10bn estimated under her original 15-year wait plan.
Charities that lobbied the Home Office to soften the rules received more than £1bn in taxpayer-funded contracts and grants, with Mencap alone taking over £200m.
Labour MP Rachel Maskell warned that up to 100 backbenchers are "privately unhappy" with the reforms, while Dianne Abbott said the new rules risk triggering "another Windrush scandal."
