Badenoch vows to reverse Mahmood's care worker settlement climbdown if Tories return to power

UK Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has pledged that a future Tory government would undo the Home Secretary's decision to let many migrant care workers settle in Britain after five years instead of 15.

In a post on X, Badenoch said Shabana Mahmood had made a grave error by giving in to Labour backbenchers, and warned that her party would scrap what she called a weak policy. She argued that immigration is already too high and that Labour is making things worse. In an unusual admission, she also accepted that the problem began under an earlier Conservative government, adding that many ministers from that cabinet have since joined Reform UK, which she said was where they belonged. She promised a plan of her own to fix it.

The row follows Mahmood's statement to MPs on Monday, 2 November. Under the change, care workers who arrived before May 2025 and earn at least £25,000 a year can now seek indefinite leave to remain (ILR), or permanent residence, once they have been in the UK for five years. About 100 Labour MPs had signed a letter asking for care workers to be spared the longer wait. Between 280,000 and 300,000 people, including family members, are expected to benefit. Mahmood insists it is not a U-turn and says settlement must still be earned.

Badenoch's own proposal would go further in the other direction. The Tories say they would review settlement rights for migrants who are not net contributors to the UK, and could take ILR away from them, while keeping benefits and council housing for British citizens. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp wrote on X that a Conservative government would remove ILR from recent arrivals granted it because of the change if they were not paying their way, and claimed the concession could cost up to £10 billion.

Reaction has split along familiar lines. Unison general secretary Andrea Egan said she was glad the Home Secretary had listened, and Dora-Olivia Vicol of the Work Rights Centre welcomed the move but said the rules were still unfair to other migrant workers already in Britain. Labour left-winger John McDonnell criticised the separate 30-year wait for people arriving on small boats, which the Refugee Council has called unfair and unworkable. On the right, politics lecturer David Jeffery wrote in UnHerd that the climbdown showed a government struggling to stand firm against its own MPs.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ON X: Badenoch's post, published at 1.05pm on Tuesday, had been viewed more than 1.1 million times by Wednesday afternoon, with about 7,600 likes, 1,300 reposts and over 1,100 replies. Many of the replies seen by PauseandPonderTV questioned why voters should trust the Conservatives on immigration after 14 years in government.

One user wrote: "Kemi, this argument would carry more weight if it were not coming from a party that spent 14 years in power. The immigration levels you now describe as a crisis did not emerge overnight."

Another said: "In my heart, I want to believe you. Unfortunately, I keep struggling with what is now framed as the Boris wave. This all started under the Conservatives I voted for."

Others accused her of following Reform UK's lead. "I just feel like this is all in act. She's seen the success in popularity with Reform on their immigration stance and she's copying and pasting," one commenter posted.

Some disputed her swipe at former ministers who joined Reform. "Kemi, you are blaming those former Conservative Cabinet Ministers who spoke up against the high levels of migration. Robert Jenrick resigned from government because of it. Home Secretary Suella Braverman was sacked by Sunak," one user replied.

Others were blunter. "We don't believe you. We never will," read one reply, while another mocked her promise of a future Tory government: "'When we get into government....' Lol you wont. Labor is winning by a landslide sorry."

The debate matters to many Nigerian families. Nigerians have been among the largest groups recruited into UK health and care jobs in recent years, and a change of government could again put their path to permanent residence in doubt.