Mahmood's immigration reforms face being watered down by No10 'tinkering'
By DAVID CHURCHILL
Published: 17:36 EDT, 20 July 2026 \| Updated: 20:49 EDT, 20 July 2026
Andy Burnham looks set to dilute a big immigration crackdown, despite re-appointing Shabana Mahmood as Home Secretary.
Labour sources said the new Prime Minister was poised to 'tinker' with reforms drawn up by Ms Mahmood in a bid to avoid his first backbench rebellion.
While her reappointment signals Mr Burnham largely backs her reforms and harder stance on immigration, sources said he is preparing to reduce the proposed length of time some migrants have to wait to gain the right to remain in Britain.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: 'Much like his predecessor, Andy Burnham is not serious about tackling immigration.
'He's surrounded himself with open borders activists and is reportedly capitulating to Left-wing backbenchers on Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) reform before he has even got started.
'Only the Conservatives have the backbone and plan to tackle legal and illegal immigration to bring control to the border.'
Reform's home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf added: 'Immigration is listed by many pollsters as the issue British voters are most concerned about.
'Yet Burnham did not mention it once in his first speech. He talks about listening to the people. He's only listening to his insane open borders backbench MPs.'
Andy Burnham could dilute the immigration crackdown planned by the Home Office
Shabana Mahmood, who has remained Home Secretary under Mr Burnham, had planned to double the length of time migrants must wait for Indefinite Leave to Remain
Ms Mahmood's crackdown, drawn up under Sir Keir Starmer, plans to double how long migrants have to wait to obtain ILR from five years to ten.
She has said it would be applied retrospectively to people already here to prevent a flood of claims from the wave of migrants who arrived after the pandemic.
But one option being looked at by Mr Burnham is exempting some migrants already in Britain from having to wait ten years.
He may even abandon the retrospective element entirely, or exempt some groups, such as health and care workers.
It comes after 80 MPs wrote to him this month urging him to water down the Immigration and Asylum Bill because the party risked losing 'progressive' voters.
A Government spokesman said: 'The privilege of living here for ever should be earned. Between 2021 and 2024, this country experienced levels of migration it had historically seen over four decades.
'We must be honest about the scale and impact of hundreds of thousands of low-skilled migrants getting settlement.
'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.'