Shabana Mahmood admits her watered-down settlement plan for foreign care workers will not save the promised £10bn
Nigel Farage, who vowed to rescind citizenship grants that do not add value to Britain, as Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood also quietly dropped plans to bar newly settled migrants from claiming benefits.Andy Burnham (left), Mayor of Greater Manchester, with Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner — whose support for the care-worker climbdown means 282,000 of the 1.9 million migrants due to settle by 2030 will face no extra delay.Mahmood's climbdown will reduce the number of people facing delayed settlement to just over 500,000, well down from nearly 800,000 under her original plans.
Mahmood conceded to MPs and broadcasters on Tuesday that her revised care-worker settlement plan will deliver savings "in the billions" — but refused to name a figure, after her original blueprint promised to protect £10bn in taxpayer funds. The climbdown came after Cabinet colleagues including Angela Rayner publicly attacked the original plans, forcing the Home Secretary to halve the wait for qualifying care workers from 15 years back to five.
Around 282,000 of the roughly 1.9 million foreign nationals due for settlement by 2030 will now keep their original five-year route, with those who miss the cut offered a second five-year visa.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp branded the retreat 'a total capitulation', while Nigel Farage declared it 'the beginning of the capitulation' and warned Reform would review every citizenship granted under the scheme.
Care workers who arrived before May 2025 and earn at least £25,000 a year qualify for the shorter route; small boat migrants face a 20-year wait, rising to 30 if they avoid work or study.
