A row has broken out between the government and the UK’s largest union over Shabana Mahmood’s controversial immigration reforms. On Wednesday evening (21 October) a planned meeting between Mahmood and the general secretary of Unison, Andrea Egan, was cancelled by the union after the Home Secretary refused a request for a migrant worker to join the discussion. The meeting would have been the first between the two women since Egan was elected as general secretary of Unison in December 2025.