The Windrush fiasco has obviously been handled disastrously by the Home Office – immigration minister Caroline Nokes’ tone-deaf and unapologetic statement made a bad situation worse and she has now given what looks like a disastrous interview to Cathy Newman admitting some have been “deported in error”. For this to happen in the week of CHOGM is almost impressively incompetent. This is the latest in a series of Home Office blunders that have been deeply worrying Tory MPs.
In the last few weeks alone Amber Rudd was nowhere on the Salisbury attack, was forced to deny seeing a leaked Home Office report on soaring violent crime, then her violent crime launch largely bombed as a result. The Home Office capitulation on immigration during the transition period – in which the government conceded new EU migrants will have a right to permanent residency after Brexit – has caused major concerns among Leave MPs. Disquiet with the Home Office goes back to the student numbers mess, Rudd’s infamous 2016 conference speech in which she once again got the tone completely wrong, not to mention her plan to force companies to list foreign workers. Of even more concern is the Immigration Bill, on which no progress of any note has been made. Leavers fear it is being delayed so immigration can be used as a card to give away in the Brexit negotiations. Tory colleagues have noted at least eight serious errors by the Home Office under Rudd’s tenure.
It is messing up more than any other department at the moment, and has no victories of note under its belt. The Windrush clusterf**k needs to focus minds…
UPDATE: Nokes tells ITV that some Windrush immigrants have been deported in error, but she doesn’t know how many:
BREAKING: Immigration minister Caroline Nokes appears to admit to @itvnews @pennymitv that some Windrush immigrants have indeed been deported, but she can’t give numbers. pic.twitter.com/9N5uyuzgKG
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) April 16, 2018
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