Energy secretary refuses seven times to say she backs Mahmood’s controversial immigration plans

The energy secretary has repeatedly refused to offer her explicit support controversial immigration reforms being carried out by Shabana Mahmood.

Miatta Fahnbulleh has faced questions over her position on the home secretary’s plans to extend the five-year wait for permanent residency by up to 10 years for foreign care workers.

The energy secretary appeared to publicly criticise Ms Mahmood’s proposals to lengthen the settlement process in a now-deleted online post, which is reported to have said prolonging the time people have to wait for settlement risks prolonging “the process of building cohesion”.

Though ministers have denied a split in the cabinet, Ms Fahnbulleh appeared unable to specifically support Ms Mahmood’s changes to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) on Wednesday.

Asked on Sky News whether she backs the plans, she praised the home secretary for having a "really tough job" and "getting a grip on small boat crossings".

"We have got to reform our immigration system and my view is that we need a system that is based on the principle of compassion [and] contribution," she said.

But when pushed on whether she can say she backs Mahmood's reforms to extend the pathway to settlement, she said: "I support reforms that say that people have to contribute and make a contribution to this country, in order to get citizenship.

"We are consulting on the package of reforms that we'll put forward and the home secretary... will set out what the final position is.”

She was pushed six more times on the issue, but did not say she supported extending the qualifying period for ILR when asked.

"We absolutely need to reform our immigration system. I support the reforms. And by the way, it is not easy to reform our immigration system," she said.

"What I absolutely backed Shabana on is the need to reform our immigration system, because it is fundamentally broken.

"I also fundamentally support the principles that we have got to control our borders, because everyone expects us to do that, and critically, that we have to have a system in which people contribute and when they contribute, they are able to become citizens and they are able to be integrated into our community. That is an immigration system that makes sense."

Angela Rayner sought to downplay reports of a Cabinet rift over the immigration proposals and insisted she has “full confidence” on Tuesday.

The housing secretary said she is sure her colleague will “land” on a policy that is fair to both taxpayers and migrants, following a consultation on plans to lengthen the period before settled status can be claimed.

Asked about Ms Fahnbulleh’s comments, the housing secretary told LBC: “They love saying those girls are all falling out, don’t they?

“I mean, it’s just not true. It’s just not true.”

She defended Ms Mahmood’s record on immigration, pointing to an increase in deportations and 48,000 small boat crossing attempts which the Government says have been prevented in the Channel since 2024.