Labour civil war erupts as junior minister savages his boss over immigration

Labour immigration minister Mike Tapp must still seek permission from the Home Secretary to access documents relevant to his brief, the Daily Express understands. It comes despite No10 insisting the minister will stay in post and is able to see whatever he needs to get on with his job.

Last week Mr Tapp sparked an extraordinary row when he took to the pages of a national newspaper to criticise his own boss's position on immigration reform. That spat led to Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, asking the Prime Minister to sack him, and then restricting Mr Tapp's access to documentation when he refused.

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Now Downing Street has insisted that the Minister "remains in post and focused on his role", telling the media this morning that "he is still able to see relevant documents."

But a spokesman repeatedly refused to say whether Mr Tapp needed Ms Mahmood's permission to view those documents.

The Daily Express now understands that he still needs sign-off, sparking questions from the opposition about whether he can do his job.

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It leaves the minister clinging to his role while stripped of the freedom to see papers central to the very brief he is meant to be running.

It follows a bitter row that erupted when Mr Tapp wrote an article calling for foreign care workers to be exempted from Ms Mahmood's flagship immigration crackdown.

A Home Office source accused him of taking "possible ideas that the Home Secretary and her team were working on" and briefing them as his own in a bid to win a job in a potential Burnham regime.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp MP tore into his Labour opponents, branding her "so weak she can’t even control her own junior minister."

The top Tory warned that Labour ministers were "now they’re arguing about who gets to see what papers."

He added: "It turns out the immigration minister can’t even see critical documents - so how can he do his vital job? He is in open mutiny, and the Home Office is rudderless."

Mr Philp blasted the Home Office under Labour and said it was in "complete chaos" from a Government he branded as "inept and weak ".

Mr Philp added: "No wonder over 3,000 illegal immigrants have flooded across the English Channel during the recent good weather spell. Shabana Mahmood can’t even control her own department, let alone our country’s borders."

Mr Tapp, a former Army intelligence analyst who served three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, was appointed to the Home Office in September last year.

Andy Burnham, who won the Makerfield by-election this month and is now running to be Prime Minister, has yet to announce his Cabinet ministers.