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Work Rights Centre@workrights.bsky.social · 2d ago

We're hiring: Immigration Adviser or Solicitor Can you deliver life-changing legal advice to migrant workers? Pay: £36,000 - £42,000, with generous SQE study/funding policies. ♻️Please share to help us find the right person ♻️ www.workrightscentre.org/publications...

Worth repeating, the 'tough new visa rules' were designed specifically for care workers and their family members. If it's not going to work for them, it won't work for anyone else caught by the cruelty of the rules. Bin the whole thing.

Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · 7d ago

Good news. But Rayner's point that it is un-British and unfair, as well as economically and politically counterproductive, to change the rules retrospectively applies to other workers on medium- skilled work visas (technicians/chefs/etc) www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

Good news. But Rayner's point that it is un-British and unfair, as well as economically and politically counterproductive, to change the rules retrospectively applies to other workers on medium- skilled work visas (technicians/chefs/etc) www.thetimes.com/uk/healthcar...

Foreign care workers could be exempt from tough new visa rules

Andy Burnham is considering an exception to Shabana Mahmood’s reforms that increase the timeline for permanent residence from five to 15 years

thetimes.com

One of her greatest hopes for the new plans is that Burnham will reverse changes to immigration rules which make it harder ... to get indefinite leave to remain... “He and I have no idea who would provide care for him, if those people weren’t there,” she said. inews.co.uk/news/care-sy...

I watched the care system fail my quadriplegic brother. He had to sell his house

Shelagh Young's brother requires 24-hour help and ran into debt to pay for his social care

inews.co.uk

The whole point of the original policy (which was and is terrible) was to target exactly this group. And now they’re going to introduce the policy and exempt them? Just abandon the policy! The whole thing is just a terrible idea.

Immigration Bot@immigrationbot.bsky.social · 2w ago

"Exclusive: Andy Burnham thought to be considering waiving stricter right to remain rules for people already working in the sectorHundreds of thousands of care workers could be exempted from the home secretary’s plans to toughen up the immigration system under proposals being…" — The Guardian

Sounds like it is Anna Turley as Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum and Jo White as Minister for Migration and Citizenship. Turley was formerly chair of the Labour Party. White was chair of the Red Wall group of Labour MPs.

The Migration Advisory Committee has published its recommendation on which middle-skill jobs should be eligible for temporary work visas via the Temporary Shortage List. The headline? Welders and other more technical jobs are in. Jobs that are more generic (e.g., Business sales executives) are out.

The 10 and 15 year routes are largely fictitious for pre-April 2024 arrivals if the lower going rates and salary thresholds are allowed to expire (and jobs drop to low skilled). 92% of Bangladeshis, 75% of Black Africans and 69% of Pakistanis would have to leave the country.

Mike Tapp has left the Home Office. His statement

"Study visas for people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan were halted in March by home secretary Shabana Mahmood, who claimed some were exploiting the asylum system" — The Independent

Students challenge Mahmood’s visa ban on overseas applicants

Study visas for people from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan were halted in March by home secretary Shabana Mahmood, who claimed some were exploiting the asylum system

independent.co.uk

50 organisations, including major trade unions like @pcsunion.bsky.social , @ucu.org.uk, @neunion.bsky.social & @bfawu.bsky.social have written to Andy Burnham asking him to scrap the earned settlement proposals & meet with migrant workers in his first month as PM. drive.google.com/file/d/1yb4A...

I have many homeless clients. Some rough sleep. There is a service the Home Office has to help prioritise applications. Which is nice, but the immigration rules often interfere (e.g. recent suitability rules criminalising those undocumented) along with unreasonable expectations with anything good.

Councillor Adam Hug@adamhug.bsky.social · 2w ago

But the elephant in the room is the Home Office. At least 25% of people on Westminster's streets have no/limited recourse to public funds which makes helping them difficult (particularly when hostile to engaging with the authorities) and where support from voluntary sector partners is critical.

Once again, more EU citizens are leaving the UK than arriving. A negative net migration figure of -42,000 — is this what @andyburnham.bsky.social, #ShabanaMahmood and #KeirStarmer celebrate as a success and a goal to achieve for #migration overall?

So two areas (migrants and trans rights) that have been capitalised on to spread hate, division etc., that were capitulated to by the last government, will see no change of ministers in the new government.

Jess O'Thomson@jessothomson.co.uk · 2w ago

🚨 Bridget Phillipson remains as the Minister for Women and Equalities After FWS Phillipson publicly stated that trans women should use men's toilets. She recently signed into force harmful & discriminatory statutory guidance which will devastate trans lives. Suggests no change re. trans rights.

This and keeping Miliband away from no.11 really feels like appeasing certain quarters of UK politics. It won't, but signals the immigration policy we can expect from Burnham. More of the nasty same I'm afraid. Hardly 'good vibes Andy'.

Paul Brand@paulbrand.bsky.social · 2w ago

Source close to Shabana Mahmood says she always wanted to stay as Home Secretary, where she argues she is making progress on tackling immigration. She wants to ‘finish the job’, we are told.

New: Home Office acted unlawfully by removing reconsiderations for trafficking decisions — by Nath Gbikpi

Home Office acted unlawfully by removing reconsiderations for trafficking decisions - Free Movement

The High Court has ruled that the Home Office acted unlawfully when it removed the ability to request a reconsideration of a negative trafficking decision.

freemovement.org.uk

Times report still misses > draft proposals 15 years for most, not wait 10 > but most on 15 years could never settle at all (by accident or design), inc many women. Most who'd lose status are black or brown > Mahmood (reluctantly) + Tapp did concede need signficant change to Rayner,Starmer + Burnham

Not unsurprising that the Tories want a full fat version of the Earned Settlement proposal. (Confusing letter) They want an extended qualification period + ILR and citizenship changes. Not sure who these "influential campaign groups" are given the Home Sec. and her team will not meet campaigners.

Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · 3w ago

In case there was any doubt. Restricting access to benefits isn't enough for Conservatives/Badenoch. They want to deport/"remigrate" people who came here on legal work visas, not because of (debunked) claims about benefits/fiscal costs but because they've embraced an openly ethnonationalist agenda

Puzzled by this being debated at all given the coming change of power. Some very big changes in that bill that will be seen as a big climb down if Burnham waters down / walks away any of it.

Kevin Schofield@kevinschofied.bsky.social · 3w ago

Scoop: Andy Burnham will vote FOR Shabana Mahmood's immigration crackdown in the Commons tonight. Dozens of Labour MPs had written to him urging him to water down the Immigration and Asylum Bill, warning the party is “losing progressive voters”. Story 👇 www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/andy-b...

The Temporary Shortage List is under review to decide which jobs should be on it from 2027. But numbers are in free fall already despite these jobs remaining eligible. Dependant ban then tougher English test have hit numbers hard. Some nationalities have given up with high visa rejection rates.(1/2)

New analysis from @refugeecouncil.bsky.social shows the huge cost to the taxpayer of poor quality Home Office asylum decisions. We estimate it will cost between £974 million and £1.2 billion supporting people currently in the appeals backlog who will have their initial refusal overturned.

📣 We're hiring a Communications Manager 👀 This is an ideal opportunity for a candidate with storytelling background, who can develop our strong relationships with journalists from across the political spectrum to secure agenda-setting coverage. www.workrightscentre.org/publications...

Jenrick on LBC in for @mrjamesob.bsky.social disrupting my lunch with his ideas around employers paying extra to employ migrants workers. He must have forgotten we already have this; it's called the immigration skills charge. He should be familiar with this from his immigration minister days.

Discouraging an activity with a benefit-to-cost ratio of nearly 10:1. A triumph of policymaking.

Fall in international student numbers ‘cost UK £2.9 billion’

Latest cost-benefit analysis finds overseas enrolments generate nearly 10 times more money for UK than they take away

timeshighereducation.com

New: What’s in the Immigration and Asylum Bill 2026? — by Alex Piletska

What’s in the Immigration and Asylum Bill 2026? - Free Movement

The Bill announced in the King’s Speech on 13 May 2026 has now been published and is beginning its slow passage through Parliament. It is the fifth

freemovement.org.uk

Windrush Lessons Learnt: "Warning signs and messages...were not heeded. Instead the policy was promoted because of a resolute conviction that it would be effective and should be vigorously pursued. Warnings by external stakeholders, individuals and organisations were not given enough consideration."

Jonathan Portes@jdportes.bsky.social · last mo.

Summary of the Home Office Impact Assessment for Asylum Bill is hilarious (if it weren't so depressing). HO analysts say "basically no evidence to suggest *any* of these policies will work *even on their own terms*" (but will probably cost money). assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a43e1...

If you want some hand crafted, artisan, any mistakes human's own, analysis and explanation of the bill, then I am slowly working through the five parts and posting here: thoughtsonimmigration.substack.com

thoughts on immigration | Sonia Lenegan | Substack

commentary and explainers on immigration and asylum law and policy, AI and paywall free. Click to read thoughts on immigration, by Sonia Lenegan, a Substack publication.

thoughtsonimmigration.substack.com

Revealed preferences suggest this 37% drop in small boat nunbers (first two quarters) is treated as ×10-x50 times less newsworthy than a 37% increase has been. Given high salience of the issue, should broadcasters try to check/balance that instinct?

"The Home Office estimates that the benefits will outweigh the costs, though this can not be evidenced at this time"