Sir Keir Starmer has declined Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's request to sack the immigration minister, Mike Tapp, after he wrote an unauthorised newspaper column arguing against her planned visa changes.
The dispute erupted when Tapp used an article in The Times to argue that foreign care workers should be exempt from Mahmood's plans to alter visa rules for migrants already living in the UK. He wrote: "It is my strong belief that those who have come to the United Kingdom on care worker visas who have played by the rules and have genuinely contributed to our care system should not be required to wait longer to apply for settlement."
“Starmer rebuffed Home Secretary Mahmood's request to sack immigration minister Tapp over unauthorised article.”
A Home Office source said Mahmood believed the article constituted "freelancing on policy" and was a breach of both collective responsibility and the Ministerial Code. The source told the BBC: "Mike Tapp is expected to be sacked for breaching the Ministerial Code. 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."
But Downing Street pushed back. A spokesperson said: "It is not for any individual secretary of state to determine whether the Ministerial Code has been followed, it is a matter for the prime minister alone." The spokesperson added that Tapp had been "reminded of his obligations" under the code, including collective responsibility and procedures relating to the clearance and presentation of government policy.
Earlier on Thursday, Downing Street said the prime minister had confidence in both Mahmood and Tapp, who is a loyal ally of Sir Keir.
Tapp took to X to defend himself: "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. I won't be intimidated to drop my views. Stay classy!" He also wrote that he has "a lot of respect for the home secretary and will continue working hard for our country."
The row has laid bare tensions between the Home Office and Downing Street over immigration policy, with the prime minister now caught between his home secretary and a loyal ally.