Fahnbulleh clarifies support for migration reform after refusing to back 15-year settlement
Miatta Fahnbulleh has said she fully supports the Home Secretary's migration reforms after repeatedly refusing to say whether she backed a 15-year qualifying period for settlement.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.
The energy secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, has moved to clarify her position on migration reform after repeatedly refusing to say whether she backed a Home Office plan to extend the qualifying period for settlement in the UK to 15 years.
In an interview, she was asked several times whether she supported the proposal, which would increase the wait for indefinite leave to remain from five years. She did not give a direct answer. Instead, she said the Home Secretary was consulting on a package of reforms and would set out the government's final position. She said she supported reform of a broken immigration system and a system based on compassion and contribution, with people expected to integrate and contribute before becoming citizens. When pressed again, she said she absolutely supported plans to reform the immigration system, but she still did not explicitly endorse the 15-year period.
The proposals have caused unease in Labour. Angela Rayner has raised concerns about the retrospective nature of the change, saying it is not fair and changes the goalposts. Fahnbulleh's constituency website had also carried criticism of changing indefinite leave to remain, saying it threatened the process of building cohesion. The post was later taken down and her team said it was not an accurate representation of what she said. Government sources said ministers would not comment on individual parts of a policy still under consultation, with final decisions expected in autumn. There was also said to be possible room for transitional arrangements.
After the interview, Fahnbulleh was reported to have described the exchange as awkward and said one of her promises on entering politics was not to lie. She then issued a clarification on social media, saying she had not got it right and that she fully supported the Home Secretary and the government's position on migration reform. She repeated that people should have to make a contribution to the country to earn citizenship.
The policy would extend the qualifying period for indefinite leave to remain from five years to 15 years, with some reports suggesting up to 20 years for some people. It would apply retrospectively, affecting people who came on health and social care visas in 2022, 2023 and 2024. The Home Office concern is partly that workers on such visas could gain permanent status and then leave care jobs. The political difficulty is sharp: some Labour MPs in Leave-voting former Red Wall seats face pressure over immigration, while others on the left oppose the change. There were conflicting accounts over whether the Home Office had delayed its decision deadline, with one minister saying proposals would come shortly.
On screen
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Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Reported by all 2 channels | ||
| Energy secretary Miatta Fahnbulleh did not publicly endorse the Home Secretary's immigration reforms, including a proposed 15-year qualifying period for settlement, saying the immigration system was broken and that she supported contribution-based reform while consultation continued. | Reported by Sky News | |
| Only on one channel | ||
| Angela Rayner has concerns about the reform plans. | Not reported by GB News | |
| Fahnbulleh issued a clarification stating she fully supported the Home Secretary and the government's migration reform position. | Not reported by Sky News | |
| Shabana Mahmood shelved the deadline for a decision on the policy. | Not reported by Sky News | |
| The home secretary was consulting on the reforms, with final government policy expected in autumn. | Not reported by GB News | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky focused on the repeated refusal to answer and the political fallout, including cabinet unease, Angela Rayner's concerns and the possibility that the policy could be watered down. Its second programme framed the row as fuelling rumours of a cabinet split and stressed the retrospective impact of the change.
- “it's the fourth time I've asked you now”
- “I absolutely support the plans to reform my immigration system it is broken and we need to report that”
- “Angela Rayner criticising the retrospective nature of these changes. It is not fair, she says, it's changing the goalposts.”
GB News treated the row as a cabinet discipline story and pushed the implication that Fahnbulleh's refusal meant she opposed the plan. It highlighted the number of times she declined, her later clarification, and a claim that the Home Office had shelved its decision deadline, while also airing a dispute over that claim.
- “Miatta Fahnbulleh, the Energy Secretary, on Wednesday declined 16 times to categorically say if she agreed with increasing the qualifying period for indefinitely to remain from 5 to 15 years.”
- “I didn't get it right and it hasn't come off as I intended. I fully support our Home Secretary and the government's position on migration reform.”
- “Shabana Mahmood quietly shelved the deadline for when she's going to make a decision on this very issue. She's kicked it into the long grass”
Broadcast Timeline
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