The Conservatives have denied they are scrapping their plans to toughen up the rules which allow migrants to settle permanently in the UK.
A spokesman for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch signalled to journalists on Wednesday that proposals that could result in migrants settled in the UK having their indefinite leave to remain (ILR) revoked retrospectively was no longer Tory policy.
But shadow home secretary Chris Philp later insisted this did not mean all of the party’s ILR plans had been thrown out, after it was seized upon by Reform UK.
The policy to revoke ILR in certain circumstances was included in a private member’s Bill sponsored by Mr Philp earlier this year.
But it attracted outcry in recent weeks after shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam suggested in a Sunday Times interview that migrants should have their permanent settled status removed in order make the country more “culturally coherent”.
“Contrary to reports, there has been no change to our ILR policy set out in February,” Mr Philp wrote on social media on Wednesday night.
In February, party leader Mrs Badenoch set out plans to prevent people from claiming the permanent settled status if they were claiming benefits or had a criminal record.
Migrants would also not be able to claim it until they spent 10 years in the country under the Tories’ plans, rather than most common qualifying period of five years.
Mr Philp continued: “We further updated our policy at conference to make clear foreign citizens (including those with ILR) should not be able to claim benefits, to address the issue of people with ILR being a burden on other taxpayers.”
The spokesman for Mrs Badenoch was earlier asked to clear up whether the party still planned to retrospectively revoke ILR from migrants, and appeared to suggest that the plans as set out in February remained in place, but the rest of the party’s migration policy – including that set out in Mr Philp’s Bill – was under review.
The spokesman told journalists: “It is now our formal announced policy to restrict benefits to anyone who is not a British citizen. That is policy. We announced that at conference.
“The remainder of our legal migration plan will be announced in the coming weeks.”
Reform UK’s Nigel Farage released a video on social media in which he criticised the move.
He said: “Do you know what, I’ve seen 50 years of this. Fifty years the Conservatives promising to do one thing and then doing the complete opposite.
“My message to you is clear, plain and simple: never trust a Tory.”
Ms Lam, who is widely tipped as a rising star within the Conservative Party, was reported to have faced internal Tory backlash for her comments in an interview.
She has denied she is linked to efforts to set up a leadership campaign to challenge Mrs Badenoch, which has reportedly included the registration of the website “LamForLeader.com”.
