Farage's plan to scrap ILR would be blocked in courts

Retrospective legislation affecting thousands legally settled here 'runs counter to our British values', Tory grandee warns

- MILLIE COOKE

Nigel Farage has been warned his plan to retrospectively strip thousands of people of indefinite leave to remain (ILR) would "trash Britain's reputation for fairness", as lawyers say the policy would be blocked by the courts.

Immigration lawyers have told The Independent that the retroactive element of the policy is likely to be successfully challenged in the courts whether or not the UK left the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) because an expectation that laws can't be changed in hindsight is a "a cornerstone of administrative law around fairness".

Mr Farage's party has pledged to scrap settled status for all nonEU migrants, requiring those who have been granted indefinite leave to remain to reapply under much stricter rules - meaning tens of thousands of people who have legally settled in Britain could be at risk of deportation.

Indefinite leave to remain is the status that grants legal migrants the ability to settle in the UK without the need to renew a visa every few years. The Reform leader said the current option of ILR open to those who have lived and worked in Britain for five years - has "betrayed democracy” and vowed to abolish it.

But lawyers have cast doubts over whether or not the plan would be workable in practice, warning that they could be successfully challenged in the courts on the basis of "legitimate expectation".