Pakistan-origin Javid replaces Rudd as UK’S home secretary
LONDON: Sajid Javid, whose parents migrated from Pakistan to Britain, was on Monday appointed the UK home secretary after Amber Rudd resigned following bruising headlines on immigration and her lack of awareness of Home Office activities.
Javid, 48, is the first member of an ethnic minority to hold the key office of home secretary.
Rudd was the fifth cabinet minister to resign after Prime Minister Theresa May formed her minority government following the 2017 general elections. One of them was Priti Patel, who left following her unauthorised meetings with Israeli officials while on a holiday.
Javid is a former banker whose father was a bus driver. His rise in politics is often hailed as an example of Britain’s multiculturalism.
He has made several visits to India and interacted with Indian functionaries in his previous role in the departments of culture and business. He was closely involved in developments related to the sale of Tata Steel’s operations in Britain.
Rudd’s departure is seen as a blow to May, who, as home secretary in the David Cameron government during 2010-15, had put in place a set of policies to create a “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants. Rudd was carrying forward May’s policies, which caused her downfall.
Two related developments led to Rudd’s departure. One was her handling of the row over the treatment of what is called the “Windrush generation” – mainly people of Caribbean origin, who have lived in Britain for decades but were treated by the Home Office like illegal immigrants.
Secondly, Rudd told the Home Affairs Select Committee of Parliament last week that her office did not have targets to remove illegal immigrants from the UK, while leaks in the media revealed such targets existed. This made her position untenable.
May and Rudd apologised for the treatment of the Windrush generation during the Commonwealth summit attended by leaders from Caribbean countries, among others. Rudd said in her resignation letter she had “inadvertently misled” the select committee on targets.
Rudd, wrote to May: “It is with great regret that I am resigning as home secretary. I feel it is necessary to do so because I inadvertently misled the Home Affairs Select Committee over targets for removal of illegal immigrants during their questions on Windrush.