Mahmood in standoff with Starmer over sacking of her junior minister

Shabana Mahmood. The row comes as senior Labour figures tussle for leading roles in Andy Burnham’s administration. Photograph: Ian Davidson/SOPA Images/Shutterstock View image in fullscreen Shabana Mahmood. The row comes as senior Labour figures tussle for leading roles in Andy Burnham’s administration. Photograph: Ian Davidson/SOPA Images/Shutterstock Mahmood in standoff with Starmer over sacking of her junior minister No 10 refused demand to immediately remove immigration minister over breach of ministerial code Shabana Mahmood is locked in an extraordinary standoff with Keir Starmer after Downing Street refused to immediately sack her junior minister for breaching the ministerial code. The home secretary has demanded that Mike Tapp, the immigration minister, should be sacked for writing an unauthorised article calling for overseas care workers to be exempt from hardline immigration reforms. But No 10 has so far refused to officially sack Tapp, saying “no decision” has been made by the prime minister. Who is likely to be in or out of a Burnham cabinet? Read more The row comes as senior Labour figures tussle for leading roles in Andy Burnham’s administration which is expected to take power in No 10 as early as 17 July. Tapp wrote in an article for the Times it was his “strong belief” that migrant care workers should not have to wait longer to apply for permanent settlement in the UK. Mahmood was unaware he had written the article, which a source close to her insisted was written “to try to win a job in the new administration”. View image in fullscreen Mike Tapp, the immigration minister, wrote an article for the Times about migrant care workers without Shabana Mahmood’s knowledge. Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images It is understood Tapp was involved in ministerial discussions about exempting care workers from the proposed reforms to “indefinite leave to remain”. It is alleged Tapp took an idea proposed in those discussions and attempted to pass it off as his own in the Times article. The ministerial code says the principle of collective responsibility requires that ministers should be able to express their views frankly in the expectation they can argue freely in private while maintaining a united front when decisions have been reached. A source close to Mahmood said: “Mike Tapp is expected to be sacked for breaching the ministerial code. He has taken possible ideas that the home secretary and her team were working on, and briefed them as his own to try to win a job in the new administration.” Asked to respond to Mahmood’s demand, Downing Street sources said that no decision had been made over Tapp’s fate and that it was up to the prime minister ultimately to judge standards of ministerial behaviour and appropriate consequences of any breach. Reeves backs Burnham to be PM despite reports she may be offered lesser role Read more The row is the latest sign of tensions between Starmer and his home secretary, after she urged him to stand down after