'Don't put words in my mouth': Energy Secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh repeatedly refuses to back Shabana Mahmood's 15-year migrant settlement rule
Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Energy Secretary who has warned Shabana Mahmood's plan to extend the migrant settlement wait to 15 years risks undermining community cohesion.Shabana Mahmood, whose plan to extend the migrant settlement wait to 15 years faces reported opposition from around 100 Labour MPs, with legislation expected within a month.
Cornered on Sky News, Fahnbulleh finally snapped at presenter Sophy Ridge: 'Don't put words in my mouth.' She insisted she backed Mahmood '100%' but would only say the Home Secretary was 'consulting'. Days earlier, a now-deleted post on her Peckham constituency website warned that longer settlement waits threaten 'the process of building cohesion'. As a Cabinet minister, she is bound by collective responsibility.
Angela Rayner has already branded the rule changes 'un-British' and 'disruptive'.
Dozens of Labour MPs oppose the plans, which would be backdated to 2021.
A Mahmood ally reportedly insists Prime Minister Andy Burnham is 'holding the line' on the crackdown.
