Shabana Mahmood is expected to water down her immigration crackdown after a Labour backlash, sparing existing social care workers

Mahmood is set to unveil her final immigration rules next week after government whips scrambled to head off a Labour rebellion that reportedly stretches beyond 100 MPs who signed a formal protest letter. The concession would spare most social care workers already living in the UK from punishing new residency requirements. Tensions have also surfaced between the Treasury and the Home Office over the plans.

Under the original proposals, some lower-paid migrant workers would face a 15-year wait for permanent residency, double the current five-year requirement.

Housing Secretary Angela Rayner had branded the plans "un-British" for changing conditions faced by people who moved to the UK in good faith.

Campaigners had warned the reforms risked repeating the Windrush scandal, a comparison that appears to have sharpened pressure on Mahmood to retreat.