Angela Rayner has denied splits in Labour over plans for an immigration crackdown despite her latest criticism. The Housing Secretary hit out at Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's bid to make it harder for migrants to claim permanent residence in the UK in comments on the eve of the party's conference.
Rayner's Sky News defence
Asked about her intervention on Sky News this morning, Ms Rayner said: "Shabana had a consultation on the transitional arrangements, and she's been really clear that we've got to have a fair system that is fair for people that contribute today and those that come to this country to contribute."
She added: "I have absolute support for Shabana in that and I'm sure she'll come to a good conclusion on that. I contributed to that consultation and I'm on the record for that."
United front on illegal migration
Ms Rayner insisted the party was united, saying: "We're all united. We've seen on illegal migration those figures coming down so I think she's doing a fantastic job so there's no split story there unfortunately."
Pressed on the party having a public argument about immigration, she added: "We're not having an argument about immigration, we've had a conversation about it, a national conversation, and we've seen the results this Government has produced since we came into government."
Concerns over carers
In an interview with The Times, Ms Rayner doubled down on her past criticism of the proposals. Asked if she stood by the remarks, she said: "Especially in regards to the carers, who were asked to come to this country to care for some of our most vulnerable and then we changed the goalposts years down the line, I think that's very disruptive."
She continued: "I do have concerns about that … when you ask someone to come here and look after your most vulnerable and they spend years dedicating themselves, moving their lives here to look after our loved ones."
Ms Mahmood's plan would increase the timeline for permanent residence from five to 15 years for those on a health and care visa, with the changes applying retrospectively to migrants who have arrived since 2021.
