Sir Keir Starmer is preparing for a likely visit to China in the new year, Sky News understands.

Political editor Beth Rigby told the Electoral Dysfunction podcast with Baroness Harriet Harman that she had heard from two sources that the prime minister would make the trip – which will be controversial – at the end of January.

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She told the Labour peer: “Now, we’ve had this from a couple of different sources.

“As I understand it, it’s not been confirmed, but I guess until they get on the plane, these things are never confirmed.

“But, you know, they might not really want people talking about the prime minister going to China, given the backdrop of the China spy case, and all of those allegations and all that controversy around China in the UK, the super embassy [proposal].”

She added: “But Harriet, what do you think? The prime minister should be going to China, shouldn’t he? Given that we economically want to grow ties with China? What do you think?”

Baroness Harman replied: “I think he should, but I think there’s no naivety around the government about, although there’s opportunities to cooperate with China on climate change, on trade, that there’s also major challenges that they’ve got to be wary of – so I think they’ll be going, but with eyes wide open.”

The trip is likely to be controversial given the UK’s fractious relationship with China, made worse by recent allegations of spying in parliament.

Read more:
MI5 is trying to send a signal to China with spying warning
Three key questions about China spy case that need answering

Earlier this week, MPs and peers were warned of new attempts to spy on them by China.

The security service MI5 sent a warning to those working in Westminster about two recruitment headhunters to watch out for who are working for Chinese security services.

It followed the collapse of a prosecution of two people suspected of spying on behalf of China.

A spokesperson for the Chinese embassy in the UK said: “These claims by the UK side are pure fabrication and malicious slander. We strongly condemn such despicable moves of the UK side and have lodged stern representations with them.

“We urge the UK side to immediately stop this self-staged charade of false accusations and self-aggrandisement, and stop going further down the wrong path of undermining China-UK relations.”

Rigby said the trip would be a “massive moment”, noting that the last prime minister to visit China was Theresa May in 2018.

Last month Donald Trump met Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

The US president described the talks with China’s president as “amazing” and said “on the scale of one to 10, the meeting with Xi was 12”.

You can listen to the Electoral Dysfunction episode in full from 6am tomorrow.

Two million legal migrants who arrived in the UK from 2021 must have stayed in the country for at least 10 years to be considered for settled status, under new proposals put forward by the home secretary.

Earlier this year the government announced it would double the qualifying period for migrants hoping to be granted permanent settlement from five years to 10 years, with reductions available for those who make a “strong contribution” to British life.

Politics latest: Starmer planning trip to China in the new year, Sky News understands

Shabana Mahmood has announced that the two million people who arrived in the UK from 2021 – under what Labour has dubbed the “Boris wave” – will now have to wait 10 years for permanent settlement.

Setting out her plans in the Commons, Ms Mahmood said settling in the UK was “not a right, but a privilege, and it must be earned”.

But she said that was “not the case today”, with permanent settlement – also known as indefinite leave to remain – granted “almost automatically after five years in the country”, granting migrants access to benefits.

She explained that 1.6 million are forecast to achieve settled status between 2026 and 2030, and “that will now change”.

Other proposals being put forward by Ms Mahmood include:

• New rules that mean migrants can only become eligible for benefits and social housing if they are granted British citizenship, rather than settled status

• Low-paid workers, such as the 616,000 people and their dependents who came on health and social care visas between 2022 and 2024, will have to wait 15 years before they can be granted permanent settlement.

• Changing rules so that those reliant on benefits face a 20-year wait for settlement – quadruple the current period and the longest in Europe

Giving a statement in the House of Commons, Ms Mahmood expressed fears that “Greater Britain” was in danger of “giving way to Littler England” and that current divisions could lead to danger for migrants and their families, including hers.

She said that while some would “choose to scorn this analysis”, “those who look like me do not have that luxury – our lives, and those of our families, are more dangerous in a country that turns inwards”.

“So we have no choice but to ask, what is the cause of our division, and how might this country be united?”

The home secretary sought to stress that her changes would not apply to those who already had settled status.

She said those who were applying for indefinite leave to remain must have no criminal record, speak English to A-level standards and have no debt.

And she said the government was also proposing that those who speak English to a degree-level standard could qualify for a nine-year path to settlement.

Those paying the higher rate of tax could qualify at five years and those on the top rate could qualify after three – the same as those on global talent visas.

Meanwhile, those who work in a public service, including doctors, teachers, nurses, would qualify after five years – while those who volunteer could qualify at between five and seven years.

Read more:
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However, Ms Mahmood did say she would consult on whether asylum seekers who claim benefits should not qualify for settlement until 15 years after their arrival.

She told the Commons: “These are subject to consultation, but the government proposes that those who have received benefits for less than 12 months would not qualify for settlement until 15 years after arrival.

“For those who have claimed benefits for more than 12 months, that would rise to 20 years.”

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “She’s [Mahmood] had a busy week. I wonder if this burst of hyperactivity has anything to do with her leadership bid.”

He continued: “Immigration under successive governments has been far, far too high, and points to the fact 10,000 people have crossed the Channel illegally since she took office.

I am delighted to see that the home secretary…has got out the copy and paste function on her laptop and started copying and pasting Conservative policies.”

The latest proposals come just days after Ms Mahmood, who was previously justice secretary, announced a raft of measures designed to deter illegal immigration and small boat crossings in the Channel.

On Monday she said families with children would be removed – either voluntarily through cash incentives of up to £3,000, or by force and that refugee status would become temporary and subject to review every two and a half years – below the five years currently offered.

Consumer confidence has tumbled amid rampant speculation about what the chancellor will announce in the budget, figures show.

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) blamed “strong hints” from the government of income tax hikes for the public’s falling expectations of how much they’ll spend over the next three months – even as Christmas beckons.

While a planned increase in income tax rates was scrapped last week, Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out freezing income tax thresholds – which the Conservatives argue amounts to a tax rise by stealth because it drags people into paying higher rates even if their wages increase.

BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said months of uncertainty had “heightened public concern about their own finances and the wider economy”.

Consumer expectations for the state of the economy over the next three months have fallen significantly to minus 44, down from minus 35 in October, according to data from the BRC and Opinium.

Ms Dickinson said action was needed from Rachel Reeves to “bring down the spiralling cost burden facing retailers”, which she said would “keep price rises in check”.

Read more: Inflation eases but food costs rise

Signs of ‘fragile’ recovery in jobs market

In slightly more encouraging news for Ms Reeves ahead of her statement next Wednesday, new research suggests the jobs market may be on the up.

The Recruitment and Employment Confederation said the number of new job adverts last month was 754,359, up by 2.1% from September, taking the total to more than 1.6 million.

Ms Reeves’s decision to hike national insurance contributions for employers in last year’s budget was blamed for a slowdown in the market, and a rising unemployment rate.

The report said there has been an increase in adverts for medical radiographers, delivery drivers and couriers, and further education teaching professionals.

But it warned the apparent recovery was “fragile”.

Reeves set to back DLR extension

One man looking forward to the budget is Sir Sadiq Khan, who has welcomed reports that London’s DLR is set to be given funding for an extension.

According to the Press Association, the chancellor will back an extension to the Docklands Light Railway to Thamesmead at a cost of £1.7bn – unlocking thousands of new homes.

Thamesmead has been notoriously short of public transport links ever since it was developed in the 1960s.

The plan would see the line extended from Gallions Reach, near London City Airport, and include a new station at Beckton as well as in Thamesmead itself.

Sir Sadiq said the DLR extension “will not only transform travel in a historically under-served part of the capital but also unlock thousands of new jobs and homes, boosting the economy not just locally but nationally”.

It is also expected to unlock land for 25,000 new homes and up to 10,000 new jobs, along with almost £18bn of private investment in the area.