Migrants who claim benefits will be banned from ever settling in Britain under Tory plans to tackle immigration.
Kemi Badenoch will today take the fight to Reform UK with plans for a dramatic tightening of the rules that allow migrants who arrive on work visas to settle permanently.
The period before migrants can claim ‘indefinite leave to remain’ will be doubled from five years to ten and people will have to show they are earning enough to support themselves.
Under Mrs Badenoch’s first major policy announcement as Tory leader, applicants will face stringent new conditions before the right to settle is granted, including demonstrating that they have never claimed benefits or used social housing.
They must also show that their income is high enough to ensure they and their families will be ‘net contributors’ to the economy rather than a burden.
Those with criminal convictions will automatically be barred from applying.
Those arriving on work visas who end up dropping out of work would have their visas cancelled and face deportation.
Rules will also be brought in to prevent people who enter the UK illegally or who overstay their visas from ever being allowed to settle here permanently.
Kemi Badenoch will announce plans for tightening of the rules that allow migrants who arrive on work visas to settle permanently
Applicants will face stringent new conditions before the right to settle is granted, including demonstrating that they have never claimed benefits (pictured: Migrants arriving in Dover)
The period before migrants can claim ‘indefinite leave to remain’ will be doubled from five years to ten (pictured: Migrants carry a smuggling boat on their shoulders as they prepare to embark on the beach of Gravelines)
And new conditions for those seeking to gain British citizenship would also be imposed, including increasing the waiting period from one year to five.
Mrs Badenoch, who has acknowledged ‘mistakes’ on immigration by the last Conservative government, last night said she was determined to get tough.
‘Our country is not a dormitory, it’s our home,’ she said. ‘The right to citizenship and permanent residency should only go to those who have demonstrated a real commitment to the UK.
‘The Conservative Party is under new leadership. We’re going to tell the hard truths about immigration.
The pace of immigration has been too quick and the numbers coming too high for meaningful integration.
‘We need to slow down the track for citizenship. A UK passport should be a privilege, not an automatic right.’
She said policy changes being introduced by Labour would ‘actually make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the UK, let alone legal migrants. No one can trust Labour on immigration’.
Tory sources said Mrs Badenoch is also considering whether to commit the party to withdrawing from both the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Refugee Convention, which have been blamed for wrecking efforts to deal with illegal migration.
Tory sources said Mrs Badenoch is also considering whether to commit the party to withdrawing from the European Convention on Human Rights
She is also examining tougher English-language requirements for those seeking to settle.
The Tories have already committed to introducing a binding annual cap on the number of work visas designed to reduce net migration to ‘much lower’ than the current 350,000-a-year forecast.
Mrs Badenoch’s decision to make immigration the focus of her first big policy intervention underlines Tory determination to try to neutralise the threat posed by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Since becoming leader in November, Mrs Badenoch has repeatedly said the last government ‘got it wrong’ by allowing record numbers to enter the country.
Both Labour and the Conservatives have been alarmed by the rise of Reform in the polls, fuelled by a focus on immigration.
One Red Wall Labour MP told the Mail: ‘There is still a squeamishness in some quarters about acting and sounding tough on immigration.
‘We have to stamp that out because our voters are very clear they are sick of being told this is all under control when it clearly isn’t. If we don’t fix it, then they will look to someone else to do the job.’
