Is government going wobbly on its migration plans?

"The government's position has not changed. The government will double the route to settlement from five to ten years. As announced in November, we are consulting to apply this change to those in the UK today but have not received settled status. We are currently reviewing the 200,000 responses and will outline our response in due course."

"Ministers want to double the time it takes most migrant workers to qualify for permanent residence from five years to 10 years, while in the case of refugees it could take 20 years. But after Rayner's intervention, the prime minister's team, facing questions from reporters, repeatedly failed to explicitly commit to the headline-grabbing idea originally set out by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood."

"Back in November, the home secretary did say the government was seeking views in their consultation on whether there should be some transitional arrangements available. Put all of these things together and the hints and nods from the government appear to amount to a leaning on the wriggle room they did give themselves from the outset to be flexible in some instances."

The EPA government is proposing significant changes to the immigration system to extend the settlement timeline for migrants already in the UK. Most migrant workers would need to wait ten years instead of five years to qualify for permanent residence, while refugees could face a twenty-year wait. Following intervention from Rayner, the prime minister's team avoided explicitly committing to these headline proposals when questioned by reporters. The government subsequently clarified its position, stating it remains committed to doubling the settlement route from five to ten years. However, the government indicated it is reviewing 200,000 consultation responses and may implement transitional arrangements, suggesting potential flexibility in how the policy applies to different groups or timeframes.

Read at www.bbc.com