TUC general secretary Paul Nowak says Burnham must overhaul migration reforms

newsSep 10, 202617322

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak told delegates ahead of the TUC’s annual congress in Brighton that Andy Burnham must overhaul Shabana Mahmood’s migration reforms because they risk overstretching social care and fuelling far-right sentiment. He criticised proposals under consultation that would force more than 300,000 low-paid workers to wait up to 15 years for the legal right to remain, saying it is “fundamentally unfair” to change the rules after people arrived expecting earlier settlement. Nowak noted there are 111,000 staff vacancies in social care and said the UK will still need migrant workers even as it trains more British staff. He warned a long wait for settlement would cut across integration, making it hard to plan housing, employment, or family life, and could be exploited politically by parties such as Reform UK. Nowak pointed to a recent attack on Sagal Abdi-Wali, a former child refugee, as the kind of outcome the reforms could enable, and said union feedback suggests Reform’s appeal may be waning as people see more of Nigel Farage. He urged ministers to rethink settlement timetables rather than adopting measures intended to neutralise populist parties.

Heather Stewart

@guardianheather.bsky.social

“The idea that you could be here for the next 10, 15 years and you’d still have no legal right to remain in the country … how the hell do you plan?..It cuts across any effort to integrate at all.” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

2074h ago

Quoting this

Colin Yeo42

Exactly! And in that time your employer, to whom you are tied for the entire time, feels the same way (hard to invest in training you etc) and you have to pay huge Home Office fees every 2.5 years, meaning your family is very materially worse off than your co-workers and peers.

Jonathan Kingham18

This is all good stuff from the TUC. And he is not talking just about transitionals.

András Forgács W10

What makes any of you think they *want* us to integrate?

Neal Hockley5

The focus on rigid timescales seems particularly damaging. I think we should require e.g. a more demanding English level (B1 is too low), but that is a productive thing ppl can work on that directly aids integration. But simply stringing out the process over long and uncertain timescales is nuts

Jonathan Portes

@jdportes.bsky.social

Excellent by @paulnowaktuc.bsky.social on Mahmood's settlement proposals “You end up with Reform claiming a woman born in Somalia who's lived here most of her life, worked hard and contributed to our society,somehow isn’t fit to hold elected office.” www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

552h ago

Chris Bertram

@crookedfootball.bsky.social

Very pleased that @paulnowaktuc.bsky.social is taking a stand on this. As he says, the current proposals from Mahmood are totally destructive of integration

195h ago

Ian Moody

@ianmoody.bsky.social

‘Fundamentally unfair’: Burnham must overhaul migration reforms, says TUC general secretary. Paul Nowak says changes to immigration rules risk overstretching social care and fuelling far-right sentiment. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

65h ago

solomonhughes.bsky.social

@solomonhughes.bsky.social

This is good from @paulnowaktuc.bsky.social The TUC should also say it is an attack on Workers Rights- if 1m migrant workers depend on their boss for their visa for 15 years, they will be exploited , wages depressed. Which will hurt all workers wages,conditions www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

As well as criticising the backward-looking changes, Nowak also condemned the idea of applying a 10- or 15-year wait to many new arrivals, as the Home Office has proposed.

“Both my granddads came to this country after the second world war – one came from Hong Kong, one came from Poland. Both raised their families here. The idea that you could be here for the next 10, 15 years and you’d still have no legal right to remain in the country … how the hell do you plan? Can you buy a house? What does that mean for your employment? Do you have kids? Do you send them to school? I mean, it cuts across any effort to integrate at all.”

93h ago

PoliticsHome

@politicshome.bsky.social

The TUC gen sec has urged Burnham to “reject the right-wing argument” that he must choose between increasing defence spending and investing in public services @paulnowaktuc.bsky.social also called on Labour to reform the OBR, describing the watchdog as “a tool of austerity” and "a brake on growth"

134h ago

Mike Bailey

@linusd.bsky.social

TUC general secretary says Mahmoud is fundamentally unfair. He’s not wrong. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

56h ago

The Daily Britain

@thedailybritain.bsky.social

🚨 NEW: The TUC has warned Labour that adopting tougher immigration policies in an attempt to counter Reform could actually STRENGTHEN the populist right. Paul Nowak said ministers should instead concentrate on improving living standards and tackling the cost of living.

43h ago

End Deportations Belfast

@enddbelfast.bsky.social

Excellent piece. Also, your reminder to join a union. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

24h ago

Reunite Families UK

@rfuk.bsky.social

Great to see @tuc.org.uk speak out against earned settlement You don't beat the far right by pandering to it, but by tackling what drives people to them Scapegoating migrants won't fix the cost of living crisis. We need solutions for our communities, not more hate www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

2h ago

Pooh 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇨🇦 🇩🇰

@poohbearcorner.bsky.social

Mr Farage There are 111,000 staff vacancies in social care at the moment. With an ageing population and fewer young British workers, how will Reform solve this problem?? www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

14h ago

UK Politics News // Papernaut

@ukpolitics.papernaut.co

THE INDEPENDENT: The TUC wants a bank windfall tax to fund social energy tariffs, with 68% backing the idea. Paul Nowak says taxing wealth - not struggling households - is essential as bills, insecure work and stagnant pay fuel distrust. - by Kate Devlin

112h ago

erika owens

@erikaowens.com

amazing to see someone talking sense on immigration on the top of the homepage of the guardian! i hope to see many more stories like this, and that the government will listen. www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

4h ago

Seb Schmoller

@schmoller.net

Calm pragmatic wisdom (as ever) from the @tuc.org.uk's @paulnowaktuc.bsky.social: www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

3h ago

Roger Alan Blackwell

@rogera.bsky.social

'Last month TUC general secretary Paul Nowak commentated on the inflationary crisis by urging the Burnham government to ‘take action’ to support households.'

3h ago

1 source

theguardian.com‘Fundamentally unfair’: Burnham must overhaul migration reforms, says TUC general secretary

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