UK PM taking advice on whether Mike Tapp broke ministerial rules
Keir Starmer is taking advice on whether Mike Tapp broke government protocol, after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood called for the migration minister to be sacked over an article out of step with official policy on immigration plans.
Mahmood has called for the UK prime minister to dismiss Tapp, and has denied him access to sensitive documents without her approval, after he wrote a Times article suggesting foreign care workers should be exempt from her plans to tighten settlement rules.
The prime minister is taking advice on whether Tapp broke the ministerial code by writing the piece, as it appears contrary to the convention of collective responsibility, which means ministers should not have public disputes over official policy.
The prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters Starmer was ‘taking advice in the usual way’, adding that it was ultimately up to Starmer whether Tapp’s actions would be considered a breach of the rules.
It is common where issues relating to the ministerial code arise for advice to be sought from the propriety & ethics team, PET, within the Cabinet Office, which is tasked with upholding government standards.
Pressed whether Starmer agreed with the substance of Tapp’s article, the spokesman described his words as indicative of ideas the Home Office was ‘exploring’, but said it represented only the minister’s personal views.
The government ‘will double the route to settlement from five to 10 years’, the spokesman said, but added that ministers were currently reviewing 200,000 responses to a consultation on the policy.
Starmer has confidence in both Tapp and the Home secretary, and believes that they can continue together at the Home Office, the spokesman also indicated.
But in a sign of division at the heart of the department, it is understood that Tapp is now being denied access to sensitive files and meetings without approval from the Home Secretary.
Tapp on Friday claimed he had ‘receipts’ showing that he had spearheaded work on an exemption from Mahmood’s policy on curbing indefinite leave to remain, ILR, for migrants.
His remarks appear to have been interpreted by some in government as a threat to share sensitive information.
A government source said: ‘Mike Tapp wrote a piece in a national newspaper freelancing on policy without the knowledge or agreement of the Home Secretary or her team.
‘He took proposals that the Home Secretary was working on, and briefed them as his own. In doing so, he has broken collective responsibility and has breached the ministerial code. Now is he threatening to leak sensitive documents. The Home Secretary has asked the prime minister to sack him.’
Tapp had earlier criticised figures within government briefing against him, writing on X: ‘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.’
In his article he expressed a ‘strong belief’ that those already working in the UK care system should not have to wait longer to qualify for ILR.
He reportedly wrote that he had been working closely with officials to ‘develop a better approach than a blanket retrospective extension from five years to 10 years for everyone’.
Tapp expressed publicly loyalty to Starmer even as his authority drained away across the wider Parliamentary Labour Party.
The questions over his future come amid broader turmoil at the top of government, after Andy Burnham emerged as the frontrunner to replace the Labour leader as early as July 17.
By David Lynch, David Hughes and Nina Lloyd, PA Political Staff
Press Association: News
source: PA
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