Call for Rudd to quit over Windrush ‘anxiety’
MP hits out at hotline set up for victims of scandal
HOME SECRETARY Amber Rudd was facing further pressure over her handling of the Windrush scandal last night after the hotline her office set up to deal with victims was strongly criticised by a Yorkshire MP.
Gill Furniss, whose team has been in touch with the Home Office helpline on behalf of a number of Sheffield constituents who face uncertainty over their legal status, described the experience of using the new service as “troubling”.
The claims came as Ms Rudd, who has faced calls to resign over the unfolding scandal, told MPs of her “bitter regret” at failing to grasp the scale of it sooner.
Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough MP Ms Furniss claimed staff operating the helpline, which was set up earlier this month in the wake of the controversy over the fate of the ‘Windrush generation’ of migrants, incorrectly told constituents her office hadn’t previously been in touch about their cases.
She said operators then demanded the constituent hand over a list of documents including parents’ passports, school records and medical records.
In one case, she said the Home Office claimed a constituent could only be given a work permit as she was already a British citizen, when in fact they needed help because they had already been denied citizenship. Ms Furniss told The Yorkshire
Post: “I regret that it is becoming clear the processes in place to deal with the Windrush cases are not effective or efficient. This is causing further anxiety to those affected. Amber Rudd assured Parliament and victims of the scandal that the process will be simple and easy to use so that all the cases will be dealt with in an appropriate matter.
“This is not happening. She must now seriously now consider her position as Home Secretary.”
The creation of the helpline is one of a number of measures outlined by the Government to help members of the Windrush generation, who arrived in the UK after the Second World War from Caribbean countries at the invitation of the UK Government.
Earlier this week, the Home Secretary said UK citizenship fees and language tests will be waived for the Windrush migrants and family members facing an uncertain future due because of changes in immigration rules.
Yesterday, Mrs Rudd told MPs she had become aware of there was a “potential issue” over the “past few months”, but “didn’t see it as a systemic issue until very recently”. Appearing before the Home Affairs Select Committee, she said: “I bitterly, deeply regret that I didn’t see it as more than individual cases that had gone wrong that needed addressing.”
Recent revelations prompted criticism of the Government’s “hostile environment” policy, introduced by Theresa May as Home Secretary to tackle illegal immigration. Emphasising that those affected by the Windrush affair were in the country legally, Ms Rudd said she preferred the phrase “compliant environment”.
BOTH THERESA May and Jeremy Corbyn performed a disservice to politics with their respective antics over the Windrush scandal at Prime Minister’s Questions.
The Prime Minister appeared in denial about her role while the Opposition leader does not understand public concerns about illegal immigration.
The exchanges, which culminated with Mr Corbyn calling for Home Secretary Amber Rudd’s resignation, were about point-scoring rather than the actual policy.
The issue is, after all, about the Commonwealth citizens who sailed here after the Second World War to help rebuild Britain.
Why, therefore, has it taken several decades for their UK citizenship to be formally recognised with the necessary documentation? Successive governments appear to be at fault.
Why, if the Windrush generation and their children were classified as British all along, as Mrs May contends, was the Home Office – under her jurisdiction – stopping their rights to work and welfare and threatening them with deporation?
Why, also, does the compensation offered by the aforementioned Ms Rudd only appear to extend to the cost of Windrush citizens applying to reaffirm their residency rights – and not the very obvious distress caused to them?
These are the issues that should have been addressed at PMQs before Ms Rudd’s inquisition by the Home Affairs Select Committee. For, while Windrush is the culmination of decades of policy-making, the Home Secretary’s hesitant response when the scale of the scandal emerged does not inspire confidence in her leadership – or judgment.
And, while Labour scent political blood, the priority should be the Home Office getting its procedures in order, and ensuring the Windrush generation receive legal clarity about their residency, before they are insulted with an even greater injustice – inaction.