Amber Rudd resigns as home secretary

[Nergal]

 

The home secretary Amber Rudd has resigned, saying she "inadvertently misled" MPs over targets for removing illegal immigrants.

Ms Rudd, who was due to make a Commons statement on Monday, was under pressure to quit over the Windrush scandal.

She faced criticism over the existence of Home Office removals targets and her knowledge of them.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, who had repeatedly urged Ms Rudd to go, said she had "done the right thing".

Ms Abbott added that the "architect of this crisis" - Theresa May - must come before the Commons to explain "whether she knew that Amber Rudd was misleading Parliament and the public last week".

On Sunday, the Guardian published the full letter it had reported on a week earlier, in which Ms Rudd set out her "ambitious but deliverable" aim to deport 10% more illegal immigrants over the "next few years" to Theresa May.

Ms Rudd telephoned the prime minister on Sunday evening to tell her of the decision amid intensifying opposition demands for her to quit.

In her resignation letter, Ms Rudd said she takes "full responsibility" for the fact she was not aware of "information provided to (her) office which makes mention of targets".

Mrs May said she was "very sorry" to see Ms Rudd leave the Home Office and she should "take great pride" in what she has achieved.

Ms Rudd's successor is expected to be announced early on Monday morning.

The Windrush row began when it emerged that some migrants from Commonwealth countries, who settled in the UK from the late 1940s to the 1970s, and their relatives, had been declared illegal immigrants.

Reacting to the resignation, Labour MP David Lammy said: "Amber Rudd resigned because she didn't know what was going on in her own department and she had clearly lost the confidence of her own civil servants.

"The real issue is the hostile environment policy that caused this crisis in the first place.

"That policy must now be reviewed, and the Home Office must move quickly to compensate and grant citizenship to the Windush generation."

Conservative MPs have been paying tribute to their colleague. Leader of the House Andrea Leadsom called her "honest and principled" while Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said she was a "huge talent" who would "no doubt be back in Cabinet soon".

Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said she had done "a great job during last year's terrorist attacks and cares deeply about the people she serves".

'Human shield'
Former chancellor George Osborne sad it was "so sad", adding "the government just got a bit less human".

Meanwhile, Lib Dem leader Vince Cable told the BBC: "She's clearly jumped before she was pushed."

Co-leader of the Green Party Caroline Lucas said Mrs May had "lost her human shield and now looks very exposed".

And UKIP's former leader Nigel Farage tweeted: "Now that Amber Rudd has resigned we need a Home Secretary that supports Brexit."

Giving evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee last week, Ms Rudd said there were no removals targets for illegal immigrants.

She later admitted "local" targets for voluntary removals had been set, but told the Commons on Thursday she had not been aware of them.

But the Guardian reported a June 2017 memo from an official, copied to Ms Rudd, that refers to targets.

The newspaper also published a letter, from January 2017, where Ms Rudd tells Theresa May about plans to restructure her department and increase removals "over the next few years".

Ms Rudd's aim of increasing "enforced deportations" would not have affected Windrush migrants, as they were threatened with "voluntary departure".

The term "voluntary" describes the method of departure rather than the choice of whether or not to depart - those leaving in this way are able to approach the Home Office for financial assistance with travel costs.