A rift between Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood has deepened after it emerged the home secretary wanted to deny the migration minister, Mike Tapp, access to sensitive documents without her approval as she called for him to be sacked.
The row was triggered after Tapp wrote an unauthorised article in the Times, stating his “strong belief” that migrant care workers should not have to wait longer to apply for permanent settlement in the UK. Mahmood was unaware he had written the piece, which a source close to her claimed had been done “to try to win a job in the new administration”.
“Home secretary Shabana Mahmood calls for sacking of migration minister Mike Tapp after unauthorised immigration article.”
In a sign of the breakdown of ministerial discipline in the last days of Starmer’s time as prime minister, Tapp – the MP for Dover – delivered a defiant response on his X account to Mahmood’s call on Thursday for him to be sacked. He posted: “Ok, morning all. It’s gone from ‘he broke the ministerial code’ to ‘he stole my idea’. I have put my views across on a policy I’ve been working on for months (I have the receipts) in an Op Ed in the times. Give it a read, and let’s continue to discuss.” Above a picture of himself, he added: “I won’t be intimidated to drop my views. Stay classy! Oh and I’m at a wedding in San Francisco, but ha…”
However, by the end of the day he had issued an apology for what he described as a “poorly judged tweet” – which he had deleted soon after posting – in which he responded to a supporter by saying: “The attempted intimidation is quite a sight. I’ve seen off the Taliban and taken out terrorists. Country first, always.”
In his apology, his said: “I apologise wholeheartedly for any offence I may have caused. I have a lot of respect for the Home Secretary and will continue working hard for our country.”
Downing Street said Tapp – who has been a loyal supporter of Keir Starmer – remained a minister but that the prime minister was taking advice on whether he broke the ministerial code on collective responsibility. The public row between Tapp and Mahmood, who was one of the first cabinet ministers to urge Starmer to stand down, escalated on Friday, and the junior minister said he would not be “intimidated”.