Mahmood has faced opposition from within the Labour Party over proposals to impose new rules on migrant workers already in the UK. Before she re-joined the cabinet, Angela Rayner, who is now housing secretary, described the proposals as "un-British" because they sought to change the rules for people who had come to the UK in good faith. Trade unions had also put pressure on the government to soften its proposed changes, with delegates at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) backing a motion calling for any changes affecting workers already in the UK to be withdrawn. Prime Minister Andy Burnham said in late September the reforms would need to "strike the right balance". "But it just reflects that there's a consultation, there's different not just opinions from politicians, but obviously there's a range of views that have gone into that consultation, so we're in the process now of looking at that," he told LBC at the time. In September, a Conservative spokesperson said: "Shabana Mahmood has caved in to pressure from Angela Rayner and her open borders MPs and will shred her own plans to reform indefinite leave to remain."