Immigration: Earned Settlement

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Noah Law

Monday 2nd November 2026 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

It is absolutely right that while we should be able to bring in workers from abroad when we need to in order to fill market gaps in this country, of course we have to ensure that we are always providing opportunities for domestic workers, not least the 1 million young people who are not in education, employment or training. We have an obligation to them too and it is important that we strike the right balance. I believe the earned settlement reforms strike the right balance for migrant workers and British taxpayers. I assure my hon. Friend that I am talking to colleagues across Government. Immigration is not the only part of the answer—skills and training here at home are also necessary.

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

I welcome the Home Secretary’s recognition of the crucial work done by overseas care workers. Does she agree not only that this approach is needed not just practically, but that it is the right thing to do in principle to ensure that those who contribute the most in the most under-served professions in our country are rewarded?

[Shabana Mahmood]

It was clear from the response to the consultation that the position of care workers was unique. They came at a specific moment post-covid, when there were very real challenges in the care sector, and it is right to reflect that and provide a five-year path to settlement for those who met the terms of their visa.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Noah Law

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising such an important point. As he will know, our modern slavery arrangements are subject to strengthening in the Immigration and Asylum Bill, which is currently going through this House. I would be happy to ensure that he can speak to either myself or one of my Ministers to discuss whether further changes need to be made.

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

I welcome the Home Secretary’s progress in reducing those perilous and often exploitative small boat crossings, but aside from the misplaced idea that asylum seekers have significant recourse to public funds or mainstream benefits, we must still be honest that a lot of human behaviour ultimately boils down to incentives. What consideration have Home Office Ministers given to the Danish model in terms of narrowing any incentive gap for migrants between coming here for work and doing so by other, irregular means?

Migration: Settlement Pathway

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Noah Law

Thursday 20th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

These will be matters for the consultation and I encourage the hon. Lady to engage with it. We have put in an element around public service, because we recognise the specific contributions made by those who fill the gaps in our labour market that we are not otherwise able to fill. On the general principle, I would say to her that settlement is not a right and that it is absolutely fair for a Government to say that it has to be earned. It is not unusual for countries to change their settlement requirements. That is quite normal. It happens all over the world, as British citizens who work abroad know all too well. The proposal to go from five years to 10 years will not change, but all the other measures I have set out today are subject to consultation. I encourage her to engage with that.

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

I welcome the Home Secretary’s statement, the care and fairness with which she has crafted the proposals, and the incentives that they instil. In my work on the International Development Committee, I have seen the immense negative impact of global displacement and the loss of over $20 billion of economic activity every year from developing countries. Then, of course, there is the impact of asylum accommodation on our overseas assistance budget. Does my right hon. Friend agree that while the measures might ostensibly seem harsh, there is nothing progressive about well-meaning people on the left of politics excusing a situation where thousands of people are risking their lives to cross the English channel from already safe countries?

[Shabana Mahmood]

It is immoral if we stand by and watch people make dangerous crossings, pay thousands of pounds to criminals, and put their lives and those of others at risk, while we do nothing. That would be a total dereliction of duty. It would also be a dereliction of duty for a Labour Government to continue to preside over a broken system, or to not have the mettle to go ahead and reform that system, and then watch as we lose public consent for having an asylum system at all. I think it is existential for us to have public consent for the asylum system, which is why all the changes are so necessary.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Noah Law

Tuesday 22nd April 2025 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

The right hon. Member will know that the issue at the moment is that transcripts have to be physically transcribed by hand by a human listening back to what was said and done in court. Speech-to-text transcription was piloted by the previous Government; it was not accurate enough. I am sure he will agree that any transcripts that are ultimately published have to be accurate. That is why we are looking at AI models. We hope to be able to find a model that gives us the requisite level of accuracy and speed to be able to publish transcripts, and to do so cheaply.

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

Children adopted from care or living under special guardianship are currently disproportionately at risk of entering the criminal justice system later in life if early trauma goes untreated. Given the recent changes in the adoption and special guardianship support fund, what steps is the Lord Chancellor taking alongside Cabinet colleagues to ensure the availability of more equitable access to such support?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Shabana Mahmood and Noah Law

Tuesday 5th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Shabana Mahmood]

I can assure the right hon. Gentleman that all the data that was published under the previous Government will continue to be published by ours.

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

As my hon. Friend the Member for Sheffield Central (Abtisam Mohamed) pointed out, legal aid is currently restricted to those on the lowest incomes. I have received correspondence from a constituent who, despite being a domestic abuse survivor, cannot access legal aid because her income is above the threshold. Will the Minister consider widening legal aid eligibility to all victims of domestic violence?