Burnham refuses to say legal immigration of 171,000 a year is too high ahead of Mahmood's expected climbdown
Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Britain relies on overseas workers to fill labour shortages in sectors such as social care, but declined to say whether 171,000 legal arrivals a year was too many.OBR and ONS data on net migration forecasts showed projected arrivals revised between March and October 2026, as Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood was expected to water down tougher leave-to-remain rules.
Speaking to ITV Tonight for a documentary on his first hundred days, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said net legal migration of 171,000 was "difficult to say" was too high, insisting it must follow "gaps in the economy." The interview lands hours before Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is set to announce a significant climbdown on her immigration crackdown in a Commons statement on Monday afternoon.
Mahmood had originally sought to double the settlement wait from five to ten years for most migrants, and triple it to fifteen for care workers — she warned watering it down would cost taxpayers £10 billion.
Angela Rayner branded the original plans "un-British," and Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh refused to back them seven times in a Sky News interview, forcing the retreat.
Foreign care workers already living in the UK are reportedly expected to be exempted from the tougher rules — even as overseas care-worker recruitment has plunged by more than 90 per cent in three years.
