Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been accused of "chickening out" on immigration reforms she promised almost a year ago, with critics saying delays are allowing roughly 1,100 people a day to gain the right to remain in Britain. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp claimed Mahmood was bowing to Labour's Left-wing, warning that migrants gaining indefinite leave to remain (ILR) get full access to benefits and housing, at significant cost to the taxpayer.

The reforms, unveiled last November, would have doubled the qualifying period for ILR from five to ten years, imposed longer waits on those who commit crimes or claim benefits, forced illegal migrants to wait 30 years for settled status, and applied retrospectively to around two million migrants who arrived since 2021. However, the measures were missing from the Home Office's updated immigration rules published last week and from June's immigration Bill, after 35 Labour MPs signed a letter opposing them in February and Angela Rayner branded the plan "un-British" in June; the Home Office says the changes will instead come via secondary legislation, expected in the autumn.