Nick Thomas-Symonds says he does not accept former deputy PM’s comments around immigration plans
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister, argued in interviews this morning that people in government agreed with Angela Rayner about wanting to deliver change quickly. (See 8.52am.)
But he would not accept her criticisms of Shabana Mahmood’s plan to make most immigrants wait much longer until they can apply for indefinite leave to remain. Rayner said this was “un-British”, because the new rules will apply to people already in the UK, which she argued did not amount to fair play. Thomas-Symonds said he disagreed.
No I don’t think that the changes Shabana Mahmood has announced are un-British.
I think what they are doing is trying to strike fairness and a balance between, in the first instance, control of our borders, and also people who are here still having the opportunity then to gain a settled status, but also being fair to everybody.
Angela Rayner joined a call with City investors in which the bookies’ favourite to replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister offered reassurance that Labour would not lurch to the left.
Investors on the call, hosted by French bank BNP Paribas this month, said the former deputy prime minister pledged the party would stick to its manifesto and not resort to a borrowing blitz to fund greater spending.
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Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/politics/live/2026/mar/18/angela-rayner-andy-burnham-labour-keir-starmer-kemi-badenoch-pmqs-uk-politics-latest-news-updates
Author : Andrew Sparrow
Publish date : 2026-03-18 10:00:00
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