Theresa May must go. She can resign, or she can be forced out – I don’t mind which – but she cannot be allowed to stay.
The appointment of Sajid Javid – a BAME minister who Mrs May doesn’t like, let’s not forget (she demoted him when she became PM) – seems to be a token gesture: “Let’s put a second-generation migrant, son-of-a-Pakistani-bus-driver in as Home Secretary and everybody will think we’ve changed – so we won’t have to.”
And – bearing in mind it’s more than a week since the Windrush scandal broke – nothing has changed so far. Let’s consider what that means, with a summary of Mrs May’s attacks on immigrants – both legal and otherwise – courtesy of Dylan Strain on Twitter:
It was Theresa who in 2010 raised the price of APPLYING for indefinite leave to remain to £849. By 2015 the fee was £1,500 and today it's £2,389 – not for a family, but for every member of it.
(Thread of Theresa May's wrong doing below) #WindrushScandalhttps://t.co/9k3DKYBSNx— Dylan Strain 💚🌍 (@DylanStrain) April 28, 2018
'It was Theresa who, in 2012, declared an intention "to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration". She set up a task force known as the Hostile Environment Working Group to force other parts of the state could do UKBA's job'
— Dylan Strain 💚🌍 (@DylanStrain) April 28, 2018
It was Theresa who, that same year, sent out 'Go Home' vans. It was Theresa's department that produced advice for people deported to Jamaica advising them to put on an accent and "try to be Jamaican".
— Dylan Strain 💚🌍 (@DylanStrain) April 28, 2018
It was Theresa who has been asked, for years, by refugee and migrant charities to close the loophole. Whose department was laid siege to by community law projects acting for those who could not afford lawyers. Who still doesn't know if the people she ignored are here or there.
— Dylan Strain 💚🌍 (@DylanStrain) April 28, 2018
It was Theresa who was PM when Black History Month launched a petition demanding an immigration amnesty for the Windrush migrants in October, and which despite passing 170,000 signatures is still being "considered' for Parliamentary debate.
— Dylan Strain 💚🌍 (@DylanStrain) April 28, 2018
It was Theresa who three days ago refused to meet the Commonwealth leaders when they were all in London, and caved in only after the Daily Mail declared it a scandal.
— Dylan Strain 💚🌍 (@DylanStrain) April 28, 2018
The fact the people who have suffered as a result of Theresa May's "really hostile environment" are browner, poorer and less able to be heard renders her claims of being a champion of social justice utterly laughable.
— Dylan Strain 💚🌍 (@DylanStrain) April 28, 2018
'Theresa May might not be a racist – but she's presided over the most racist, disgraceful abomination in recent British history. She allowed it to grow to such massive proportions that it's now a stain upon our national character.'
— Dylan Strain 💚🌍 (@DylanStrain) April 28, 2018
'But it'll probably be Amber Rudd's fault, because she voted Remain and won't get in a car with Boris Johnson.'
— Dylan Strain 💚🌍 (@DylanStrain) April 28, 2018
Not only did Mrs May allow this “abomination” to grow to such proportions that it is now a “stain on our national character” – she rewarded those who were responsible for it:
Interesting: Three years ago 2014/15 head of “Immigration Enforcement” Home office agency created by May to increase deportations and that was charged with delivering on internal numerical targets received a bonus of between £5k and £10k, according to Home Office Annual Report: pic.twitter.com/Y08cKItjo3
— Faisal Islam (@faisalislam) April 30, 2018
When Mrs May became unelected prime minister (remember: she became Conservative leader because her opponent stood down, and at last year’s general election she lost her party’s Parliamentary majority), she appointed Amber Rudd as Home Secretary. At the 2016 Tory conference Ms Rudd gave an address that led to her being reported to the police on a charge of making racist hate speech.
Ms Rudd wrote a letter to Mrs May in January 2017, promising to increase deportations of people the Conservative government has decided should no longer be allowed to live in the UK by 10 per cent. I cannot, in good conscience, say that this policy was directed at illegal immigrants – as the Conservatives are rather desperately trying to assert – because it has become clear that people with every right to remain in this country were targeted from the moment Mrs May became Home Secretary, never mind Ms Rudd.
So to clarify, Amber Rudd was running out of illegal immigrants to kick out of the UK in order to meet her quotas, she then had a light bulb moment and thought 🤔 let’s go after Legal POC residents, lock em up in detention centres, no one will notice and Theresa May agreed.
— Natalie Rowe (@RealNatalieRowe) April 30, 2018
(I’m not sure Natalie Rowe’s suggestion is accurate; we don’t know that this was the intention. But it is certainly what happened, and we may deduce that legal residents were targeted in order to meet the increased targets being demanded by Ms Rudd and Mrs May.)
Last week, Ms Rudd lied to a Parliamentary committee, claiming that there were no deportation targets. Then she lied to the Commons themselves, saying she had not known the targets existed – despite having set them in January last year. When her letter discussing these targets with Mrs May became public, she had no choice other than to resign.
Rudd lied.
May knew Rudd lied.
May did nothing.
May failed in her duty as PM to preserve the fundamental standards required in a democracy.
May must go.— Tom London (@TomLondon6) May 1, 2018
Instead of going, Mrs May is trying to draw a line under the matter. But the fact exists that she did receive a letter from Amber Rudd discussing deportation targets.
James O’Brien discussed the implications on his LBC show:
So – as Rachael Maskell argued in Parliament, it seems Amber Rudd was the scapegoat – just one more of Mrs May’s subordinates who was sacked for carrying out her policies:
Is Amber Rudd the Prime Ministers scapegoat for the Windrush crisis? Full clip here: https://t.co/iT82RTjlGo pic.twitter.com/UmGuKBtkYJ
— Rachael Maskell MP (@RachaelMaskell) May 1, 2018
Mrs May herself has confirmed that she knew the Home Office had targets for the removal of illegal immigrants. Note the word “illegal”. She said: “When I was home secretary, yes, there were targets in terms of removing people from the country, who were here illegally.”
But she didn’t lift a finger when it became clear that people with every right to be in the UK were also being deported – and, as Dylan Strain has pointed out in his Twitter thread (above), she has known for years.
So the argument that Mrs May is in the clear because she may not have heard Amber Rudd misleading a committee, or may not have bothered about it because Ms Rudd corrected what she said the following morning, simply doesn’t add up. Ms Rudd’s correction was also a lie and Mrs May knew it, because she knew all about the targets. But she still allowed her MPs to make public displays of support for Ms Rudd, despite knowing that they were based on false information.
It implies an intention to mislead the public, from which Mrs May cannot slither away.
We should tackle the use of “illegal immigration” by Conservative MPs.
Every single Tory MP brings up "illegal immigration" immediately they're questioned about Windrush. They've agreed on it as the party line.
Isn't it a disgrace our media's letting them get away with it and even parroting it?— Susan (@marthasydenham) April 30, 2018
It is, indeed, a disgrace. The prime minister of the UK has known for years that legal citizens of the UK were being targeted by her “hostile environment” policy, that she and her party are still claiming was aimed at “illegal immigration”. If she had done anything at all to stop legal citizens being targeted, then they might be justified in using this excuse. She did not, so they are not.
Now we have a new Home Secretary, Sajid Javid – just another human shield for Mrs May, as Owen Jones explains:
Theresa May has replaced one human shield with another. She is responsible for the Windrush scandal – and she must resign over it. https://t.co/rqlp9f7lcb
— Owen Jones 🌹 (@OwenJones84) April 30, 2018
And the “hostile environment” policy goes on – renamed the “compliant environment” by Mr Javid. Those two words mask a multitude of sinister – no, call them what they are: downright evil – meanings, as David Lammy explained:
The hostile environment is not about illegal immigration. It is about creating a hostile environment for anyone who looks like they could be an immigrant. An unjust law is no law at all. 230 years after the abolitionists I stand in Parliament and ask Am I Not A Man And A Brother? pic.twitter.com/Jvt62miJMk
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) April 30, 2018
These crimes against UK citizens are still happening, with the blessing of Theresa May’s government – and will continue happening as long as she is prime minister.
Mrs May has inflicted the policy on the country and has lied repeatedly and bare-facedly in order to keep it going. It is intolerable. She must not be allowed to get away with it. We must demand her resignation – or removal.
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