Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has dramatically called for Prime Minister Keir Starmer to sack one of her ministers, Mike Tapp, after he wrote an article calling for migrant care workers to be exempted from new immigration rules without her knowledge. The demand has set up a clash between No10 and the Home Office, as The Mirror understands no sacking is imminent.
Minister Breaches Ministerial Code
Mr Tapp, the immigration minister, wrote in The Times that it is his "strong belief" that migrant care workers should not be forced to wait up to 15 years to be awarded indefinite leave to remain (ILR). The statement caught Ms Mahmood unaware, and she has now demanded his removal. A Government source said: “The Home Secretary has asked the Prime Minister for Mike Tapp to be sacked for breaching the Ministerial Code.” It is understood Ms Mahmood believes Mr Tapp broke the code, which requires ministers to take collective responsibility for decisions.
Internal Disagreement Over Migration Policy
An insider told Sky News that Mr Tapp had revealed an idea that his boss and her team were already working on. They said: “He has taken possible ideas that the Home Secretary and her team were working on, and briefed them as his own to try to win a job in the new administration.” Prime Minister-in-waiting Andy Burnham is reportedly weighing up whether to water down a string of proposals put forward as part of a migration shake-up. Proposals to change ILR rules and apply them retrospectively have sparked an outcry.
Impact on Care Workers and Sector
If the rule change went ahead, care workers who came to the UK after the Covid pandemic would see their wait for ILR qualification increase to 15 years, three times the current five years. This requires them to seek a new sponsor every time they change job, and unions warn it could lead to an exodus in the embattled sector. Over 100 Labour MPs have written to Mr Starmer demanding a rethink. Lydia Kabute, who came to the UK from Kenya in 2023 on a health and social care visa, told The Mirror: "Why shift the goalposts from five years to 15 years? Did we do something wrong? Covid had ravaged everything, it had messed everything up (in the care sector). We came to help and assist. Remember, you (the UK Government) told us to come and help and you gave us the conditions. But now the goal has been shifted."
Union and Political Reaction
Trade union Unison warns the rule change is morally wrong and could deepen the crisis in social care. It says migrant staff make up nearly 30% of the sector's workforce. Under current rules, a person needs to be in the UK for five years before they can get settled status. This is going up to a standard 10 years, but Ms Mahmood says NHS workers, high earners, and people who volunteer will be fast-tracked. On the flipside, migrants who claim benefits or who came to the country illegally will be penalised. Ms Mahmood will insist her reforms will create a compassionate but controlled system. The Mirror has contacted Mr Tapp for comment.
