𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Labour has erupted into civil war after the Home Secretary reportedly begged Sir Keir Starmer to sack her own immigration minister. Shabana Mahmood announced hardline reforms on immigration to bring down the number of migrants moving to the UK earlier this year.

But now she has been forced to ask Sir Keir, who announced he was quitting his own job earlier this week, to boot out immigration minister Mike Tapp after he penned a Times article asking that foreign care workers be left out of her crackdowns.

Mr Tapp, whose seat of Dover and Deal serves as one of the major entry points of illegal boat crossings, wrote that it was his “strong belief” that migrants working in the care sector should not have to wait a longer time to bag a British passport.

It is understood that Sir Keir refused to give Mr Tapp the boot, despite the pleas of his Home Secretary.

It has now emerged in The Times that Ms Mahmood did not know the article had been written, and had not authorised it.

Ministers are expected to stick to collective Cabinet responsibility, meaning they should clear articles and statements with their boss – in this case, the Home Secretary – before going public.

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp pounced on the drama telling the Daily Express the spat was proof of more “chaos and infighting” in the floundering Labour Party.

He said Ms Mahmood’s junior was “openly defying her in a brazen attempt to get a place in Burnham’s cabinet.”

Andy Burnham, who won the Makerfield by-election last week, is widely seen as the frontrunner to replace Sir Keir when he vacates No10.

“There is not a single thought for the national interest here,” Mr Philp fumed.

The top Tory warned “all these Labour Ministers care about is their own personal ambition and jockeying for government jobs. It’s beneath contempt.”

Labour is already in open civil war after Sir Keir announced on Monday that he was quitting as PM, with Andy Burnham likely to take over.

Ms Mahmood has already demanded that newcomers to the UK wait longer before gaining the right to work, study and permanently claim benefits.

Mr Burnham has previously slammed the decision to apply those changes retrospectively, saying they would leave immigrants “in a sense of limbo and unable to integrate”. However, the Daily Express understands that Mr Burnham has yet to make a final decision on the controversial policy.

Earlier this year, more than 100 Labour backbenchers wrote to the Home Secretary urging her to axe plans to apply the changes to migrants already in the country.