Britify

RESTORE BRITAIN: THE SCALE OF WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN Restore Britain’s immigration and citizenship proposals go far beyond tightening the border. They involve dismantling the existing settlement system, reviewing historic citizenship grants and carrying out a substantial programme of departures and removals. THE SCALE OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM Restore proposes abolishing Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), ending further grants and revoking existing permissions. Those who qualify under its proposed Immigration Red List could receive time-limited visas. Others would be expected to leave. The Migration Observatory estimated that 620,000 to 820,000 non-EU nationals held ILR at the end of 2024. This excludes people who have since become British citizens. The EU Settlement Scheme adds another major dimension. By June 2026, approximately 4.6 million settled-status grants had been issued, alongside around 1.2 million people holding pre-settled status. These are separate from conventional ILR figures. And the existing settlement pipeline is substantial. Home Office projections estimate 1.3 million to 2.2 million settlement grants between 2026 and 2030, with a central estimate of 1.6 million. The projected peak in 2028 is between 359,000 and 620,000 grants. Restore’s proposal to end ILR would therefore affect both people already holding settlement and the future route through which people would otherwise qualify. CITIZENSHIP AND NATURALISATION Home Office data records 2,701,215 naturalisation grants between 2005 and the second quarter of 2026. For 2005–2020, the detailed figures identify: 1,325,012 grants based on residence. 517,421 grants based on marriage. The detailed subcategory breakdown is blank from 2021 onwards, so the remaining 858,782 grants cannot be reliably divided between those routes using this dataset. Restore proposes retrospective legislation to review citizenship grants from the date of its announcement, alongside a dedicated body to examine historic naturalisations. This would involve auditing original applications, investigating suspected fraud, assessing contribution and pursuing deprivation where legal grounds exist. The proposed exception covers citizenship through marriage to a British citizen born in Britain, with at least one parent also born in Britain. The scale of historic reviews is considerable. House of Commons Library figures record 1,565 deprivation orders between 2010 and 2024: 1,342 relating to fraud, false representation or concealment, and 223 on grounds that deprivation was conducive to the public good. DEPARTURES AND REMOVALS In the year ending June 2026, the Home Office recorded 40,605 returns from the UK: 9,669 enforced returns. 30,936 voluntary returns. Restore’s proposals would require a much larger departure and removal programme, supported by changes to legislation, enforcement and the handling of people whose permission to remain is withdrawn. THE SCALE OF THE TASK These figures show the size of the system Restore is proposing to replace. It is not simply a matter of stopping new arrivals. It means ending the existing ILR route, addressing millions of historic settlement and citizenship decisions, reviewing individual cases, investigating alleged fraud, making legally grounded deprivation decisions and arranging departures and removals. That is a huge undertaking. It would require legislation, a dedicated administrative structure, case-by-case reviews and the capacity to enforce decisions. Sign me up for an admin role 👍 Sources used are in comment section below.