Labour Splits Erupt As Cabinet Minister Condemns Shabana Mahmood's Immigration Crackdown

Cabinet splits have deepened after another minister condemned Shabana Mahmood’s immigration crackdown.

Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh joined Angela Rayner in hitting out at plans to make it harder for immigrants to remain in the UK.

Mahmood’s reforms will increase the timeline for permanent residence in the UK from five years to 15 years for foreign social care workers, and will apply to all those who have come to the country since 2021.

In a post on her website, originally reported by the Telegraph, Fahnbulleh said the example of her Peckham constituency shows what can happen when “people are given the opportunity to integrate and participate”.

“Ultimately, I want to see a system based on control and compassion, with a much stronger focus on integration,” she wrote.

“If we continually prolong the time people have to wait for settlement, we can also prolong the process of building cohesion.

“We need to raise the level of the debate, challenge divisive political rhetoric and make the case for communities like the one we have in Peckham. That means talking about immigration with care, control and compassion.”

In her own criticisms of the immigration reforms, Rayner said including immigrants who have already been in the UK for five years was “un-British”.

“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,” the housing secretary told The Times.

“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.”

In her speech to last month’s Labour conference, Mahmood hinted that she will water down her plans in the face of the criticism.

She said: “I know that, throughout our consultation process, some have said elements of these reforms are not fair.

“And to that, let me say this: we will come to a position that balances fairness for those who came here legally and fairness to British citizens across this country.”

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