'More flip-floppery!' Bridget Phillipson handed GB News grilling after refusing to rule out Keir Starmer migration U-turn

Sir Keir made claimed that "no final decisions" on the policy had been made, but made clear that we "must always remember that people do want firm rules".

He told the Sunday Mirror: "They want clear rules, but they also want compassionate and fair rules, and certainly in relation to some of the arguments that have been made, for example, by social workers about the impact on them, they make a powerful case, in my view."

Quizzed by Camilla on whether she would "support" the Prime Minister in watering down the reforms, Ms Phillipson told GB News: "So we do need to get our immigration system under control and demonstrate to the public that we are maintaining law and order at the border.

"That is absolutely essential and necessary precondition for being an open and outward society."

Revealing that the length of time in which migrants can qualify for indefinite leave to remain is "under consideration, she added: "We have to demonstrate in order to maintain support for immigration, that we've got control.

"One of the areas that is under consideration is how long people have to be in this country before they are given leave to remain."

Challenging Ms Phillipson, Camilla questioned why the Labour Government "cannot trust" Shabana Mahmood to see the policy through.

Camilla argued: "Why not just trust Shabana Mahmood? She's the Home Secretary?"

The Labour MP responded: "We were always clear that some of these areas are out for consultation, and that is one of the areas."

Camilla hit back at Ms Phillipson's argument, declaring the possible U-turn "more flip-flopping" from Sir Keir.

Camilla said: "Shabana Mahmood wants to do it as Home Secretary, we've now got the Prime Minister trying to upend that.

"This is just yet more flip-floppery from Keir Starmer, isn't it? He just can't keep a position, this will be the 15th U-turn?"

Assuring that Ms Mahmood "has the support of the Government" in her policy making, Camilla interjected, stating: "But not the Prime Minister? Clearly not, according to the Sunday Mirror?"

Ms Phillipson explained: "In bringing a degree of order and control to our immigration system that has been undermined for many, many years, there are some areas, like the one I just referred to that has been out to consultation where we were seeking views on the right way to address this.

"But there are other areas like making sure that we're tackling illegal migration that we're clamping down on criminal smuggling."

Pressed by Camilla on whether she can rule out another Labour U-turn, the Education Secretary told GB News: "We are clear that maintaining our immigration system and having a fair, balanced and rules based approach, that is an absolute precondition."

Pushing for a clear answer again, Ms Phillipson told Camilla: "What I'm saying is that was always out for consultation, there's been no change there. That was a measure that we were consulting on."

As Camilla challenged that Ms Mahmood had stated the policy as "fact" and "not under consultation", Ms Phillipson concluded: "The length of time under consideration was out for consultation.

"But the wider point is we saw under Boris Johnson a big increase in the number of people coming into our country, bigger than you would normally expect, and therefore it was right that we consider whether that number is really sustainable and whether we can maintain public confidence in the system with those levels of net migration."