Andy Burnham hinted he is considering watering down Shabana Mahmood’s migrant crackdown to find a “fair resolution”. The Prime Minister told the BBC he wants to bring a “new pair of eyes” to the row engulfing Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, dozens of Labour MPs, unions and health chiefs.

Ms Mahmood is under pressure to exempt migrants already living in the UK from new rules forcing them to wait longer for settlement rights. And Mr Burnham said: “I think people would expect me to bring a new pair of eyes to these issues and find where the fairness is and the right point of balance.”

Under Labour’s plans, migrants will be told to wait at least 10 years before they can apply for settlement rights.

Foreign nationals who arrived in the so-called ‘Boris Wave’ face a 10 to 15-year wait to apply for indefinite leave to remain.

And migrants could be barred from claiming benefits unless they become British citizens

Arrivals applying for indefinite leave to remain after 10 years must have no criminal record, speak English to A level standards and have no debt, under Labour’s new proposals.

But Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is under pressure to water down her proposals.

Allies of Ms Mahmood insist the move is necessary to prevent the benefits bill from ballooning as 1.6 million foreign nationals who arrived between 2021 and 2025 gain settlement rights.

But left-wing MPs, trade unions and health groups want the Home Office to exempt migrants already here from the new rules, claiming it is unfair to change the rules after millions moved to the UK with the five-year threshold still in place.

And Reform has claimed the record influx of migrants could cost £622bn, in NHS treatments, housing, benefits and social care, with spending far outstripping tax income.

And Mr Burnham admitted he will seek a “fair resolution”.

He said: “I came in and I am listening to people’s views, and we’ll come to a fair resolution. I think the worry that people have is the feeling that it’s out of control and that we don’t have a grip as a country, and therefore we don’t have the right procedures in place.”

Asked again if he might rethink the proposals, the Prime Minister said: “ I am going to look at what’s been said during the consultation, and I mentioned social care before, and I see people contributing to our society by working in social care who’ve, in many cases, come from around the world to work there or work in the NHS. I don’t think people actually say that that is something that we don’t want. We want people when they’re here and making a contribution to be able to be, if you like, supported and welcomed here.”

The Daily Express revealed how Ms Mahmood received warnings that her plans could trigger an exodus of tens of thousands of foreign doctors and nurses.

Patient care could be plunged into crisis, with appointments cancelled, health groups warned.

And some health groups want the Home Secretary to introduce more lax rules.

The Royal College of Nursing said: “In the longer-term, the UK Government must implement policy interventions to make ILR more accessible for nursing staff.”

It said this should include:

– Providing immediate indefinite leave to remain (ILR) for nursing staff. Fast-track routes to settlement, such as those available in New Zealand and Canada, are needed to maximise the retention of internationally educated nursing staff within the UK health and care systems.

– Reducing ILR application fees. To facilitate access to ILR, the ILR application fee should be set at the processing cost. This would reduce the cost of an ILR application fivefold, from £3,029 to £523

The College “In August 2025, we surveyed more than 5,000 internationally educated nursing staff on the proposed changes to indefinite leave to remain.

“Our survey findings are clear that this policy change could trigger an exodus of internationally educated nursing staff. The RCN estimates that as many as 46,000 nursing staff could leave the UK.

“In the context of a global nursing workforce shortage, there is a responsibility for all countries, including the UK, to increase and sustain a domestic supply of registered nurses and reduce reliance on international recruitment.”

Care England warned Labour’s current plans have created a new loophole which will allow workers to transfer to the NHS to circumvent the crackdown.

They told the Home Affairs Select Committee: “A provider raised that they have received their first resignation from a nurse who is leaving to join the NHS on the basis of the rule that an applicant has been employed in a specified public service occupation for five years, minus five years.

“If this rule applies to NHS employment but not to social care roles, it would mean that nurses and any other roles that exist in both health and social care could secure Leave to Remain after five years by leaving their current employer and moving into the NHS.

“This was the reason provided for the resignation they have already received, and they anticipate a number of similar resignations once this becomes widely known.”