Ed Balls and Angela Rayner clashed on Good Morning Britain over proposals to make care workers wait 15 years before they get permission to stay in the UK, with Balls announcing he had "beef" with the Deputy Prime Minister over the issue.
Balls asked Rayner whether the 15-year wait, instead of the current five years, would be fair on people coming over to work in the care industry, which led to the heated on-screen disagreement.
Rayner defends care workers
"Care is usually [a] secondary thought," Rayner responded. "I hear so many times that it's low pay, low skill. I reject that completely and entirely."
She continued: "If we're going to fix our NHS, then we have to have a national care centre. I'm so pleased that our prime minister's talking about this panel."
"And I've got beef with this because I used to be a care worker. They're some of the most highly skilled people that look after some of our most [vulnerable]," she began before Balls interjected.
Balls challenges the plans
"I've got beef with you as well because I trained to be a care worker, did all the training for a BBC documentary," he said.
"And Shabana Mahmood's rules currently say that most people will have to wait 10 years, not five years. But care workers will have to wait 15 years. And I'm asking you is 15 years fair to disadvantage, compared to others, care workers in that way?" he pressed.
Rayner responded: "The rules that people comply with are the rules that are set by the government of the day, and people have a choice on that."
However, Balls wouldn't let her continue, jumping in to say: "What I'm saying, and you've criticised what Shabana Mahmood is planning."
Rayner calls for better recognition
"Sure, but Ed, let me finish," Rayner insisted. "What I'm saying, and a related point, is that we need to attract people into the care sector as a career choice because it is a fantastic career. It is highly skilled."
"It is a compassionate vocation to do. I got so much out of being a care worker. Looking after someone at their end of life or when they need you the most is is is so powerful and I was so privileged to do it."
"We do not respect our carers enough. We don't pay them enough, and that's why I introduced the fair pay agreement because we need to make sure we elevate and recognise what carers do in this country and make it a career choice that is attractive."
Dissatisfied with her response, Balls shot back: "Sounds like you're keeping your conversation with Shabana Mahmood Home Secretary private when it comes to the issue of care workers and the immigration rules. That is your right as a member of the cabinet. But we'll see whether you can make progress on that one."
Rayner worked as a home carer for Stockport Council between 2000 and 2005 looking after elderly people in their own homes.
Meanwhile, Balls received on-the-spot training and worked as a care worker for a two-part BBC Two documentary titled Inside the Care Crisis with Ed Balls, which aired in November 2021. He immersed himself in the role for two weeks to investigate the UK's social care crisis.
