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Angela Rayner says a longer settlement wait for migrant workers is unfair
September 26, 2026
Housing secretary Angela Rayner criticises Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's plans to lengthen the wait for settlement, ahead of Labour's annual conference.
Shabana Mahmood, the home secretary, announced plans last year to lengthen the time migrants must wait before applying for settlement in the UK, and Andy Burnham succeeded Keir Starmer as prime minister in July.
Angela Rayner, the housing secretary, objects to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's proposal to make migrants wait longer before they can settle in the UK, and the BBC and The Guardian agree on the substance of her complaint. The BBC reports her argument that the plans "change the goalposts" for people already here, including foreign carers who "moved their lives here to look after our loved ones". The Guardian recalls that Rayner once worked in care herself and opposed the scheme while outside government, and carries her words: "I’ve not changed my view on that."
The outlets differ in emphasis on where the dispute goes next. The Guardian reports that Andy Burnham, prime minister since July, has doubts about parts of the scheme and is weighing an exemption for workers who arrived before any change, and that more than 100 Labour MPs, along with many unions, stand against it. The BBC gives more room to the cabinet response. It reports that Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, dismissed the charge that the plans are un-British, and its analysis treats her remarks as a sign ministers may shift. “I don't think they are un-British because I don't think that we have ever had an automatic right to citizenship for most people who come to the UK from overseas,” Lisa Nandy said.
Timing is where the pressure lands. The BBC reports Mahmood acknowledging that many who arrived in 2022 would become eligible to settle in February 2027 if nothing changes, and The Guardian puts the number of overseas care workers who entered Britain from 2022 to 2024 at about 180,000. The BBC has Mahmood promising a ruling before the year is out; The Guardian has her telling MPs on the committee that one is close. Both outlets report Rayner's objection, while the government's choice on whether the changes reach workers already in the UK is still open.
Still developing
What is set to change for migrants already working in the UK was still coming in at the time of this draft.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- BBC — Angela Rayner criticises worker visa plans on eve of Labour conference
- The Guardian — Angela Rayner stands by attack on care worker visa reforms ahead of Labour conference
Toggle read the full reports of 3 of the 5 outlets counted on this event. The other 2 are counted from their headlines and opening sentences.