STORY
Downing Street has said Sir Keir Starmer is taking advice after a public dispute between Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and migration minister Mike Tapp over immigration policy. The row followed an article by Tapp in The Times in which he argued that overseas care workers should be exempt from proposed changes to settlement rules.
Mahmood has asked for Tapp to be dismissed and has restricted his access to sensitive Home Office documents and meetings without her approval. Downing Street said Tapp remained a minister while the Prime Minister considered whether there had been a breach of the ministerial code and collective responsibility.
Tapp has defended his intervention, saying he had been working on the policy area for months and would not be intimidated. Justice minister Jake Richards said it had not been wise for a junior minister to set out views publicly in that way, adding that the matter would be dealt with by the Government.