Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, will ban migrants who claim benefits from becoming UK citizens.
Under Mrs Badenoch’s first major policy announcement as Tory leader, applicants will face stringent new conditions before the right to settle is granted, including demonstrating that they have never claimed benefits or used social housing, according to Mail Online.
They must also show that their income is high enough to ensure they and their families will be ‘net contributors’ to the economy rather than a burden.
Those with criminal convictions will automatically be barred from applying.
Those arriving on work visas who end up dropping out of work would have their visas cancelled and face deportation.
Rules will also be brought in to prevent people who enter the UK illegally or who overstay their visas from ever being allowed to settle here permanently.
New conditions for those seeking to gain British citizenship would also be imposed, including increasing the waiting period from one year to five.
Mrs Badenoch, who has acknowledged ‘mistakes’ on immigration by the last Conservative government, last night said she was determined to get tough.
‘Our country is not a dormitory, it’s our home,’ she said. ‘The right to citizenship and permanent residency should only go to those who have demonstrated a real commitment to the UK.
‘The Conservative Party is under new leadership. We’re going to tell the hard truths about immigration.
The pace of immigration has been too quick and the numbers coming too high for meaningful integration.
‘We need to slow down the track for citizenship. A UK passport should be a privilege, not an automatic right.’
She said policy changes being introduced by Labour would ‘actually make it easier for illegal immigrants to stay in the UK, let alone legal migrants. No one can trust Labour on immigration.
Tory sources said Mrs Badenoch is also considering whether to commit the party to withdrawing from both the European Convention on Human Rights and the UN Refugee Convention, which have been blamed for wrecking efforts to deal with illegal migration.
The Tories have already committed to introducing a binding annual cap on the number of work visas designed to reduce net migration to ‘much lower’ than the current 350,000-a-year forecast.
Mrs. Badenoch’s decision to make immigration the focus of her first big policy intervention underlines Tory determination to try to neutralise the threat posed by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Since becoming leader in November, Mrs Badenoch has repeatedly said the last government ‘got it wrong’ by allowing record numbers to enter the country.