Miatta Fahnbulleh removes Peckham post on UK settlement proposals

Miatta Fahnbulleh, the UK energy secretary and MP for Peckham, has removed a constituency website post about proposed changes to migrant settlement after her office said it inaccurately represented her views, the Guardian reported on 19 October. The account of a September community meeting suggested that longer waits for settlement could hinder integration.

The Guardian said the post had reported Fahnbulleh as warning that continually extending the wait for settlement could also prolong the work of building community cohesion. Her office said her remarks had been paraphrased and that the post would be rewritten to reflect more accurately what she told residents. The Telegraph first highlighted the wording, according to the Guardian.

What the UK settlement proposals would change

The government had yet to publish its final response to a consultation on the proposals. The Guardian reported that concessions were likely for some professions, including care workers, while Prime Minister Andy Burnham had said he remained committed to the bulk of the changes. The precise terms of any concessions therefore remain unsettled.

Cabinet concerns about settlement and integration

Fahnbulleh’s reported comments came amid disagreement within the cabinet over the proposals. Housing Secretary Angela Rayner said in an earlier interview that, without changes, the plans would unfairly penalise care workers who had moved to Britain to look after others, according to the Guardian. Her concern focused on the effect of a longer route to settlement on people already working in care.

In the Peckham meeting account, Fahnbulleh described the immigration debate as increasingly depressing and toxic and called for an approach grounded in control, compassion and integration. Because her office disputes the accuracy of the paraphrased account, its wording should not be treated as a verbatim record of what she said at the meeting.

Fahnbulleh had also told the Guardian’s Politics Weekly podcast that her family would have found Mahmood’s proposed changes tough. Having come to Britain as a child after fleeing Liberia’s civil war, she said the immigration system should recognise the contributions of people working and taking part in their communities, including in the health service.

The UK Government says Fahnbulleh became secretary of state for energy security and net zero in July 2026 and was elected MP for Peckham in July 2024. Her constituency role places the disputed account in the context of a meeting with the south London residents she represents.