Minister says he ‘won’t be intimidated’ by home secretary as public row escalates

An extraordinary public row between the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood , and one of her junior ministers has escalated after he said he “won’t be intimidated” in response to calls by her for him to be sacked. Mahmood demanded on Thursday that the migration minister, Mike Tapp, should be fired for writing an unauthorised article in the Times calling for overseas care workers to be exempt from controversial changes to the immigration rules. But Keir Starmer has so far not sacked Tapp for apparently breaking the rules around ministerial conduct. In the most visible evidence of a breakdown of discipline in the last days of Starmer’s time in charge of government, Tapp used his X account to deliver a defiant response. He wrote: “Ok, morning all. 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.” Above a picture of himself, he added: “I won’t be intimidated to drop my views. Stay classy! Oh and I’m at a wedding in San Francisco, but happy to talk more when I’m back (I promise that’s the Golden Gate Bridge hidden by the fog).” No 10 has so far refused to officially sack Tapp, saying on Thursday that “no decision” had been made by the prime minister. …