The Reform UK leader’s plans would mean that that ILR settled status would be scrapped including for those currently residing in the UK.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has been warned that his latest stunt to crackdown on immigration is not only unworkable but would also lead to the ‘collapse of the NHS’.
Farage has repeatedly come up with unworkable policy ideas to clamp down on immigration and on Monday said he would axe indefinite leave to remain (ILR) if he won power – putting hundreds of thousands of people legally settled in the UK at risk.
Indefinite leave to remain is the main route by which migrants are able to settle in the UK and which is open to people who have worked and lived in the UK legally for five years. Depending on visa type, the applicant may also need to meet certain salary or financial requirements.
After securing ILR, a person can generally apply for British citizenship after 12 months.
Farage claimed his policy is aimed at stopping 800,000 people from becoming eligible for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) between 2026 and 2030.
Farage said this group – which he called the “Boriswave” because they arrived under post-Brexit changes made by Boris Johnson – tended to be young and low-skilled and were “going to be a huge burden on the state” by claiming benefits.
The Reform UK leader’s plans would mean that that ILR settled status would be scrapped including for those currently residing in the UK.
Instead, Farage is proposing that those affected would have to apply for a new visa with far stricter requirements would need to be successfully applied for and renewed every five years. The policy would reportedly also see the salary threshold to apply increased to around £60,000, nearly double the median UK salary (£31,602).
The plans would throw the lives of the estimated 430,000 people holding ILR into uncertainty, despite many having lived in the UK for decades. Farage has used disputed figures claiming that scrapping ILR would save more than £200bn.
Reacting to his policy proposal, unions representing the NHS and care workers warned that the proposals would collapse the NHS and harm overseas staff.
Christina McAnea said: “The effect on the NHS and social care workforce would be no less than catastrophic, with thousands of essential, dedicated staff being shown the door. It’ll be impossible to maintain vital public services. Scapegoating migrants and spreading anxiety won’t solve any of the country’s deep-seated problems. It will simply make them worse. The UK is better than this.”
Royal College of Nursing chief Nicola Ranger said: “Threatening to sack thousands of migrant nursing staff is abhorrent beyond words.”These are people who have come to the UK to care for patients and become part of our communities. They deserve so much better than this.
“The policy of retrospectively removing people’s rights in this way would be unprecedented, leaving migrant nursing staff unable to work or access welfare, despite having paid tax.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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