It had seemed as if some apologies from the prime minister were more sincere than others. The one that he has planned to deliver for Britain’s role in the slave trade at the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Antigua fell on the right side of genuine. There had been no need to make one at that time.
Indeed Kemi Badenoch saw it as a sign of weakness. There again, she would refuse to apologise for running someone over on a pedestrian crossing. Somehow it would have turned out to be the victim’s fault.
Andy Burnham’s apology for not being able to turn up in the Commons to lend support to his home secretary might rather fall into the “sorry, not sorry” category. Making life more difficult for migrants was more one for Keir Starmer’s legacy than part of the new government’s agenda. Andy couldn’t have been more thrilled to be on a plane as Shabana Mahmood stood up to make her statement on “earned settlement”.
It was almost as if the statement had been timed for when Burnham was away. At the very least, it was the perfect coincidence. If not divine intervention.
Even on Monday lunchtime, the prime minister’s spokesperson was refusing to give Burnham’s wholehearted support for Shabana’s proposed changes to indefinite leave to remain (ILR). Even after he and other cabinet colleagues had managed to water them down a little. The best that Andy would say was that “It was a good thing that immigration had fallen”.
Nothing about the home secretary’s role in this. Nothing that hinted at an endorsement. It felt as if Mahmood had been rather hung out to dry.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
