Burnham backs tougher settlement plans with exceptions for care workers

UK prime minister Andy Burnham has backed home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s immigration reforms while securing exceptions for some workers, according to Guardian analysis. Almost 300,000 care workers would retain the ability to apply for indefinite leave to remain after five years. High earners, people with strong British connections and workers in health and teaching would also qualify for five-year settlement.

The plans retain retrospective changes affecting many migrants and waits of up to 30 years before small-boat arrivals can apply for settlement. Burnham presents the exceptions as recognition of migrants’ contributions. Conservatives and Reform portray them as a retreat, while Labour remains divided over whether the wider measures are too restrictive or insufficiently tough.

The care-worker exception links the immigration debate directly to social care: the Guardian reports that Burnham sought exemptions to ease pressure on the sector. His allies describe border control as a matter of restoring public confidence, alongside recognising migration’s benefits. The article does not establish how the changes would affect staffing.