Now Andy Burnham is poised to dilute big immigration crackdown in bid to avert Labour civil war

Andy Burnham looks set to dilute a big immigration crackdown in an effort to prevent Labour being plunged into a full-blown civil war.

The Prime Minister refused today to fully commit to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s reforms and is poised to ‘tinker’ with them in a bid to defuse a Cabinet row and avoid a humiliating backbench rebellion.

Among the options he is understood to be considering is watering down rules around the length of time it would take foreign workers to gain permanent residence in the UK.

Opponents fear the plans, which would increase the time foreign nationals have to wait before being granted Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) from five to up to 15 years, risk alienating ‘progressive’ voters.

A bitter Cabinet rift over the changes surfaced this week and dozens of backbench Labour MPs have indicated they could vote against the legislation in a bid to defeat it.

Asked today if he would commit fully to sticking with the plans, the PM refused to give his full-throated backing, simply saying: ‘We’re in a position where we’ve been consulting on those reforms, and we will come forward with our decisions soon.’

However, suggesting he won’t ditch them entirely, he added that he backed the ‘principle’ that ‘settlement is a right to be earned through contribution.’

Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh this week attacked any attempt to ‘prolong the time people have to wait for settlement’ in an online post she later deleted.

Revealing simmering Cabinet tensions, she also refused 16 times to support Ms Mahmood's proposals during an awkward TV interview and said this was because she had pledged to ‘never lie’ when entering politics.

But she later U-turned and apologised, insisting on X: ‘I fully support our Home Secretary and the Government's position on migration reform.

‘As I said earlier this week, it's absolutely right that people should have to make a contribution to this country in order to earn citizenship.’

Labour big beast Angela Rayner, the Housing Secretary, has also previously attacked the prospect of backdating the plans.

As well as significantly lengthening the time migrants would have to wait for ILR, Ms Mahmood’s crackdown would be applied retrospectively to people already here in a bid to prevent a flood of claims from the wave of migrants who arrived after the pandemic.

But it’s understood one option Mr Burnham has been looking at is exempting some migrants – in particular health and care sector workers – from aspects of the proposals, including lengthier waits for ILR.

It is hoped this would make the overhaul more palatable to opponents and allow the changes to pass more smoothly through Parliament without the threat of Labour MPs and peers voting against.

In July, 80 MPs wrote to the PM urging him to water down the Immigration and Asylum Bill, warning the party risked losing ‘progressive’ voters.