At last we’ve found the culprit at the heart of this outrage – ‘the state’

It’s a curious thing. Both Amber Rudd and Theresa May have said sorry for the Windrush scandal – yet neither of them seems to think that they’re to blame for it.

Yesterday Ms Rudd made a statement to the Commons. In it, she attempted to pull off an extremely tricky feat. Expressing her most heartfelt anguish for the scandal’s victims – while making it sound as if she had been a powerless bystander.

“All members will have seen the recent heartbreaking stories,” she said, sadly. “These people worked here for decades… helped establish the NHS… paid their taxes… enriched our culture… This should never have been allowed to happen… The state has let these people down…”

Ah, the state. So that’s whose fault it was. For a while there, I was worried that it might have been the Government. Or the Home Secretary.

I wonder what Ms Rudd was like as a teenager.

“Mother, Father – it has come to my attention that, while you were away this weekend, a party was held at our house without your permission, attended by a large number of my friends. I regret to report that, during this party, a considerable amount of damage was done to upholstery, carpets, priceless family heirlooms and the back garden. It truly is heartbreaking, to see what the party’s guests did to your scatter cushions, glass coffee table, and koi carp. I personally have been deeply upset by the consequences of the decision to hold this party – consequences which could not possibly have been foreseen when the invitations were secretly sent out. Mother, Father: there is no denying where the responsibility lies. Let me be very clear: the guests of that party have let you down.”

At any rate, Ms Rudd assured MPS that she was “personally committed” to “resolving this situation with urgency and purpose”. The Windrush generation would have their UK citizenship fees waived, and they would not be made to sit the usual citizenship test, which assesses applicants’ knowledge of “life in the UK” (probably unnecessary, given that they’ve been living here for decades).

Ms Rudd insisted that the Government would still take “a robust approach” to illegal immigration. But its approach to language, it seems, will be softer. Mrs May once boasted that for illegal immigrants she would create a “hostile environment”. Now that this phrase is being used to pin the blame on the Prime Minister, Ms Rudd has instead taken to calling it a “compliant environment”. There, much nicer.

Naturally Labour gave her a scolding, but without much zeal. They’d clearly sensed that, if she was going to be sacked, it would have happened by now. Still, there was one moment they enjoyed.

“The Home Office,” declared Ms Rudd, “is a great department of state.” Labour MPS guffawed.

If you watch the footage, you’ll notice that Ms Rudd smirks, too.