New Home Secretary cuts a very impressive figure

OF ALL the great offices of state, that of home secretary is the one that proves, time and again, to be the most difficult for the incumbent to hold on to. Home secretaries tend to come and go with almost monotonous regularity. One of Theresa May’s standout achievements was that she managed to remain in that job for longer than most. That same tenacity seems to be serving her fairly well in her current position too. She constantly confounds expectations through sheer doggedness.

But Amber Rudd has been forced to resign because she was economical with the truth about Government targets. She is gone and now we have Sajid Javid. The son of a Pakistani immigrant bus driver, he is the first member of an ethnic minority to hold a great office of state.

He is undoubtedly impressive. His brilliant career in banking sets him apart from politicians who have had no prior experience of life outside the Westminster bubble. And his ethnic background gives him an advantage in dealing with the fallout of the Windrush scandal which has recast the Tories as cruel and uncaring. If anyone can prevent them from again being dubbed the “nasty party” then it is him.

He must be open and he must act decisively to sort out this mess which has ruined the lives of many decent, law-abiding British citizens who came to this country in the hope of a fair and better life, who uphold British values and have been terribly badly treated.

Beyond that – on the day when we also learn that the Home Office has lost track of 9,373 asylum seekers – Mr Javid must grapple with immigration as a whole. If he can make the Home Office “fit for purpose” then he is a hero.