Kemi Badenoch has vowed to remove unemployed or low-paid migrants from Britain in a bid to cut their net drain on the state.
Setting out her first real policy as Tory leader, Badenoch is proposing that legal migrants in the UK should only be allowed to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) once they have been in the country for 10 years, double the current five-year threshold.
Under her plans, migrants would only be able to qualify for ILR if they had not claimed benefits or used social housing during their entire 10-year period in Britain.
They would also have to have been "net contributors" to the economy over that decade, meaning their salary and tax payments must be high enough to outweigh their costs to the state, including those of their children, other dependents, or any benefits they may have claimed.
The plan would mean most low-skilled foreign workers - including any on the minimum wage - would be excluded from claiming ILR.
Analysis by Karl Williams, from the Centre for Policy Studies think tank reveals that just five per cent of all visas in 2022-23 were given to high-skilled migrants who are likely to be net contributors to Britain's economy.
And proposals to reform ILR have been made before - in December, the Adam Smith Institute's Sam Bidwell called on Britain to triple the ILR threshold to 15 years, and put safeguards in place to ensure that "high-quality, compatible" migrants settle in the country.
"Our country is not a dormitory, it's our home," Badenoch said. "The right to citizenship and permanent residency should only go to those who have demonstrated a real commitment to the UK."
MORE AS BRITAIN GRAPPLES WITH THE MIGRANT CRISIS:
"The Conservative Party is under new leadership. We're going to tell the hard truths about immigration," she added.
Badenoch continued: "The pace of immigration has been too quick and the numbers coming too high for meaningful integration.
"We need to slow down the track for citizenship. A UK passport should be a privilege, not an automatic right.
"Far from reducing the number of people coming into Britain, the Labour Government is presiding over an incoming disaster.
"The Border Security Bill will actually make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the UK, let alone legal migrants. No one can trust Labour on immigration."
Badenoch's Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp later apologised for the surge in non-EU migration under the former Tory Government - and admitted it "shouldn't have happened".
Philp told GB News: "The last Government made mistakes. We've said that already, it was a mistake, we got it wrong and it shouldn't have happened."
And putting his weight behind his leader, he said: "And that is why, under a new leader, there is a new approach.
"Today's policy announcements - which are specific, they're credible, they're properly thought through - this is one of the steps in the process to rebuild that trust and show that under a new leader, there is a new approach, and that a future Conservative Government would take tough action, specific action… that will sort this out."
Find Out More...
Setting out her first real policy as Tory leader, Badenoch is proposing that legal migrants in the UK should only be allowed to apply for indefinite leave to remain (ILR) once they have been in the country for 10 years, double the current five-year threshold.
Under her plans, migrants would only be able to qualify for ILR if they had not claimed benefits or used social housing during their entire 10-year period in Britain.
They would also have to have been "net contributors" to the economy over that decade, meaning their salary and tax payments must be high enough to outweigh their costs to the state, including those of their children, other dependents, or any benefits they may have claimed.
The plan would mean most low-skilled foreign workers - including any on the minimum wage - would be excluded from claiming ILR.
Analysis by Karl Williams, from the Centre for Policy Studies think tank reveals that just five per cent of all visas in 2022-23 were given to high-skilled migrants who are likely to be net contributors to Britain's economy.
And proposals to reform ILR have been made before - in December, the Adam Smith Institute's Sam Bidwell called on Britain to triple the ILR threshold to 15 years, and put safeguards in place to ensure that "high-quality, compatible" migrants settle in the country.
"Our country is not a dormitory, it's our home," Badenoch said. "The right to citizenship and permanent residency should only go to those who have demonstrated a real commitment to the UK."
MORE AS BRITAIN GRAPPLES WITH THE MIGRANT CRISIS:
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"The Conservative Party is under new leadership. We're going to tell the hard truths about immigration," she added.
Badenoch continued: "The pace of immigration has been too quick and the numbers coming too high for meaningful integration.
"We need to slow down the track for citizenship. A UK passport should be a privilege, not an automatic right.
"Far from reducing the number of people coming into Britain, the Labour Government is presiding over an incoming disaster.
"The Border Security Bill will actually make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the UK, let alone legal migrants. No one can trust Labour on immigration."
Badenoch's Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp later apologised for the surge in non-EU migration under the former Tory Government - and admitted it "shouldn't have happened".
Philp told GB News: "The last Government made mistakes. We've said that already, it was a mistake, we got it wrong and it shouldn't have happened."
And putting his weight behind his leader, he said: "And that is why, under a new leader, there is a new approach.
"Today's policy announcements - which are specific, they're credible, they're properly thought through - this is one of the steps in the process to rebuild that trust and show that under a new leader, there is a new approach, and that a future Conservative Government would take tough action, specific action… that will sort this out."
Find Out More...