Ever since the Windrush scandal began in the UK government, specifically the Home Office, just a few weeks ago, a countrywide debate has been going on about just how much these immigrants deserve. However, a scheme devised within the Home Office has now been revealed, in which massive amounts of deportations were planned. And not only that, they had a list of specific targets for deportation. This reveal has led to Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s resignation late last night, after much deliberation and mulling over her options.
The resignation letter that Rudd sent to Prime Minister Theresa May has been revealed.
In the letter, the Home Secretary told the PM that she should’ve been aware that her office had pinpointed specific targets for deportation. However, she was the one who had pledged to deport 10% or more increase in deportations of immigrants over “the next few years,” so her subordinates had to start somewhere. Rudd says in the letter that she has spent some time amid the controversy conferring with her brain trust and considering her options, and the conclusion that they came to was that she had to leave her post in disgrace, so that’s what she is doing.
The Windrush scandal is similar to the “dreamer” immigrants debate that is currently raging in US Congress, with the Democrats and the Republicans deadlocked on whether or not they deserve rights and citizenship, but that ongoing debate has yet to reveal any dark and hidden secrets as of yet that lead to certain politicians resigning.
No one has even mentioned deportation in an official capacity over there yet. The same cannot be said of Rudd, who has screwed the pooch in a major way.
This all happened over a matter of days
The Home Office’s “ambitious but deliverable” deportation plans were leaked along with the suggestion that they already had targets in mind on Wednesday, when Rudd claimed that the list of targets did not yet exist.
Then on Thursday, she said that they did exist, but claimed that she did not previously know about them. Then on Friday, the Guardian published evidence that the Home Office had a list of specific targets who would be forcibly kicked out of the country. Then last night, Rudd maintained that she knew nothing of the list, but admitted that she should have.
The whole thing, the bigger picture, was all her idea, though, so whether or not Rudd knew about the actual list of targets is pretty moot. She ordered a lot of deportations and whoever came up with that list was just following her orders. Resignation was seen as the Home Secretary’s only option after she repeatedly contradicted herself when being asked about what kind of part she played in the Windrush immigrants being treated so unfairly.
Theresa May will appoint Rudd’s replacement today
Rudd resigned late on Sunday night and May is expected to have replaced her within 24 hours of her resignation. The goal is to find someone who is qualified and fit for the job and has the tools required to cool down the heat that is surrounding the Windrush scandal and figure out how to solve it in a way that will make everyone happy, although this will be a lot easier said than done.
It will be interesting to see who she chooses – and many pundits are already making their guesses.
The departing Home Secretary was just the fifth woman in history to take a major political office in the UK government, following Margaret Thatcher, Margaret Beckett, Jacqui Smith, and May herself. Rudd was also the fastest official to rise through the ranks of the British government since World War II and has spent her entire career campaigning for gender equality in Parliament in women’s rights in the UK (including pioneering a sex education scheme in schools across Britain), so it is somewhat of a shame to see her go so quickly.
