Shabana Mahmood is set to water down her migrant settlement crackdown, sparing care workers after pressure from Labour's left

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is expected to announce to the Commons on Monday that care workers currently residing in the UK will be exempt from new rules requiring migrants to wait up to 15 years for indefinite leave to remain. The retreat comes after fierce opposition from Cabinet colleagues including Housing Secretary Angela Rayner, who publicly criticised the backdating of the proposals.

Most other migrant workers will still face a decade-long wait for settled status under the reformed points-based system.

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp accused Mahmood of surrendering to "the open-borders Labour left", saying hundreds of thousands of low-wage migrants will now be able to stay permanently and claim benefits.

Recruitment of overseas care workers looks set to fall by over 90 per cent against the figure from three years ago, even as demand grows and the number of British people entering the sector declines.