UK plans stricter residency rules as illegal migrant numbers surge

Britain plans to tighten the rules over how illegal migrants can settle permanently by making applicants prove their value to society, including being able to speak a "high standard" of English, interior minister Shabana Mahmood said on Monday.

The plan is the latest government effort to dent the rising popularity of the Reform UK party, which has led the debate on tackling immigration and forced deeply unpopular Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party to toughen its policies.

Most illegal migrants can currently apply for "indefinite leave to remain" after five years of living in Britain, a status that gives them the right to live permanently in the country.

In her first speech to the Labour Party conference as interior minister, Mahmood said the government is considering making changes so people will only qualify for this status if they pay social security contributions, have a clean criminal record, do not claim benefits, can speak English, and have a record of volunteering in their communities.