Fahnbulleh Insists She Backs Home Secretary's Migration Reforms After Dodging Question

The UK's energy minister Miatta Fahnbulleh has insisted she fully backs Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's immigration reforms, after repeatedly declining to say so in a television interview.

Fahnbulleh was pressed several times on Wednesday about whether she supported the government's plan to toughen the rules on permanent residence, including doubling the time most migrant workers must wait to qualify for indefinite leave to remain. She would only say that ministers were consulting on the proposals.

Speaking to political reporters on Thursday, she laughed off the exchange, describing her earlier comments as a light-hearted, self-deprecating joke that was never meant to signal disagreement with government policy.

In a later statement she added: "I fully support our home secretary and the government's position on migration reform."

Mahmood set out the plans at Labour's party conference in September, arguing the system needed to strike a fairer balance — but a significant number of Labour MPs and trade unions want her to water the proposals down.

Downing Street has repeatedly insisted that Mahmood is still considering responses to a consultation exercise, with the prime minister's spokesman saying the home secretary is leading a thorough review.

Fahnbulleh is not the first senior figure to wobble over the policy: Angela Rayner criticised the proposals ahead of conference, warning against shifting "the goalposts years down the line" for people already in the UK, though she later denied any split at the heart of government.