Shabana Mahmood is set to announce a major crackdown on migration through a radical overhaul of the main route for immigrants gaining British citizenship in the UK.
Under tougher measures set to be unveiled by the home secretary, migrants who want to remain in the UK will have to learn English to a high standard, have a clean criminal record and volunteer in their community to be eligible for indefinite leave to remain. They will also have to be working, paying national insurance and not be claiming benefits under the proposed changes.
Ms Mahmood will lay out the plans while billing herself as a âtough home secretaryâ and admitting that some Labour members âwonât always like what I doâ.
But speaking on the second day of Labourâs annual party conference in Liverpool, she will also say she is âfighting for a vision of this country that is distinctly our ownâ.
Labourâs latest announcement comes just days after Nigel Farage announced plans to abolish indefinite leave to remain, meaning tens of thousands of people who have legally settled in Britain could be at risk of deportation â a policy Sir Keir Starmer branded both âracistâ and âimmoralâ on Sunday morning.
As Reform surges in the polls â with the party currently on track to win the most parliamentary seats if an election were held â the government is attempting to persuade voters it can be trusted on migration.
But critics have rounded on Labourâs latest plans, with the Refugee Council accusing the government of âpunishing refugees for needing helpâ.
Meanwhile, Minnie Rahman, CEO of refugee charity Praxis, accused the government of pursuing proposals that would create a âtwo-tier societyâ on the âvery same day the PM finally distances himself from Reform UKâs policiesâ.
It came after the prime minister warned that Mr Farageâs plan to scrap indefinite leave to remain would ârip this country apartâ.
âWe are a proud, tolerant country… And we are a diverse country where people have come here for centuries to this country to make up who we are,â he told the BBCâs Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.
âIt is one thing to say weâre going to remove illegal migrants, people who have no right to be here. Iâm up for that. It is a completely different thing to say we are going to reach in to people who are lawfully here and start removing them.
âThey are our neighbours. Theyâre people who work in our economy. They are part of who we are. It will rip this country apart.â
He added: âI do think that is a racist policy. I do think itâs immoral, it needs to be called out for what it is.â
Labour argued there is a âdividing lineâ between the governmentâs proposals and Reform UKâs pledge to scrap settled status for all non-EU migrants.
But Enver Solomon, CEO at the Refugee Council, said: âFar from encouraging integration and contribution, these conditions risk erecting more barriers for refugees.
âWe know that refugees want to feel part of, and give back to, the country that has provided them with safety. So many refugees have received their indefinite leave to remain and built lives as doctors, entrepreneurs and other professionals.
âBut that might not have been possible without a safety net. It is much harder for a refugee to find their feet straight away without relying on benefits at all â especially if they have been given less than 30 days to find somewhere to live. Almost all people seeking asylum are not allowed to work and are forced to rely on state support.â
He added: âBy punishing refugees for needing help, we are saying to them that no matter how hard you work in the future, youâll never have a safe permanent home in Britain. This is the opposite of encouraging integration and contribution.â
Meanwhile, Ms Rahman said: âOn the very same day the PM finally distances himself from Reform UKâs policies, his own home secretary announces proposals that would create a two-tier society.
âThis would prevent millions of people who have lived and worked in the UK for years, from ever having equal rights to British people.â
She also accused the home secretary of having âbypassed the voluntary sector entirelyâ with their proposals that migrants would need to be doing some volunteer work to prove they are contributing to society.
âVolunteering is â by definition â a choice. Itâs deeply concerning that the new home secretary seems not to grasp that basic principle,â she said.
âCharitable leaders, like myself, will not participate in a scheme that would create discrimination and division in our communities.â
A consultation on the changes will be launched later this year. It is understood that the Home Office has not yet decided what the penalty for having previously claimed benefits would be as it is expected to be subject to consultation, but it is understood that it could be an outright disqualification or a delay beyond the current threshold to qualify.
In its white paper published in May, the government also pledged to increase the amount of time migrants have to wait before they can apply for indefinite leave to remain in the UK to 10 years.
Currently, most migrants who come to Britain on time-limited work visas can make an application for indefinite leave to remain after five years.
Indefinite leave to remain is the status which grants legal migrants the ability to settle in the UK without the need to renew a visa every few years.
In her speech, Ms Mahmood is also expected to express her fears that âpatriotism, a force for good, is turning into something smaller, something more like ethno-nationalismâ.
She will argue her toughness on secure borders, fair migration and safe streets are essential components of an âopen, generous, tolerantâ country.
Ms Mahmood will speak about her parentsâ experience of arriving in the UK, arguing the acceptance of migrants depends on their contribution to local communities.
Additionally, she is expected to refer to her personal experience of shoplifting while working behind the till of her familyâs corner shop as a child.
The home secretary will launch a âwinter of actionâ scheme in a bid to tackle shoplifting.
