Rudd rebuked by No10 after customs union gaffe

Amber Rudd is heavily criticised over ‘hostile’ deportations policy as MP calls on her to resign

AMBER RUDD was admonished by Downing Street last night after suggesting the Government was “still working” on its policy over a future customs union with the EU.

The Remain-supporting Home Secretary admitted she was now fighting for her political future as Brexiteer Tory colleagues questioned her fitness for office.

Already facing calls to resign over the Windrush row, she was accused of presiding over “chaos” after admitting internal immigration removal targets were used by the Home Office a day after saying they did not exist.

The beleaguered minister put herself at odds with the Prime Minister, saying she disliked the “hostile environment” phrase Mrs May had used to describe immigration policy.

Declining to say whether she had considered quitting, she said: “I’m just thinking about staying in the game.” Ms Rudd’s comments on Brexit came on the day the Commons passed a motion calling on the Government to establish a customs union with the EU after Brexit.

Though not binding, Tory rebels believe the Government will have difficulty getting a majority when a legally binding amendment to the Customs Bill is put to a vote next month. Julian Smith, the Chief Whip, has reportedly warned No10 to expect defeat. Seven Conservative MPS spoke in favour of the motion, which was not put to a vote because the Government chose not to oppose it. More mutineers are said to be waiting in the wings for May’s showdown.

At a lunch with journalists, Ms Rudd was asked whether Britain would stay in the customs union. She said: “I’m not going to be drawn on that. We still have a few discussions to be had in a really positive, consensual and easy way among some of my Cabinet colleagues in order to arrive at a final position.” She added: “I’m committed to the Government’s position, which to some extent we are still working on.” She clarified her comments on Twitter, saying: “Of course when we leave the EU we will be leaving the customs union”, but she noticeably failed to rule out any form of customs union.

Downing Street issued a stern rebuttal, saying the Government was “absolutely clear and without ambiguity that we are leaving the customs union and won’t be joining a customs union”. Peter Bone, the Eurosceptic Tory MP, said at the lunch: “We cannot have the Home Secretary not supporting this key plank of Brexit.”

Sir Keir Starmer, Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary, said: “The Prime Minister should listen to the growing chorus of voices in Parliament and in business that believe she has got it wrong on a customs union.”

THE disclosure that the Home Office handed down targets for voluntary deportations has led to claims that migrants in the Windrush generation became “easy targets” because of the shame associated with being asked to leave the UK.

Amber Ru dd said yesterday that she would issue no new targets for immigration teams after it emerged they did exist and were designed to encourage officials to remove people.

The measure was applied to the voluntary scheme, which offered payment to migrants in return for leaving and incentives to encourage them not to ignore letters asking them to cooperate.

At a home affairs select committee hearing on Wednesday, Ms Rudd said her department did not use targets to measure removals, but was later forced to admit she was wrong before revealing they would be scrapped altogether.

However, the existence of targets until at least last year has contributed to fears that the Government’s socalled hostile environment policy disproportionately affected migrants such as those in the Windrush generation because of their desire to do the right thing.

Many were picked up because their employers suddenly demanded extra documentation after checks were tightened up in 2014.

Lucy Moreton, the general secretary of the immigration workers’ union, said that there was a “shift in attitude” in 2011-12 that meant Home Office officials were no longer allowed to have a conversation with migrants struggling to prove their status in order to prove how long they had been living in the UK. She told a committee of MPS that many cases used to be resolved using “a level of discretion no longer permitted”, including asking people to recall living through big events like strikes and water shortages.

Last week, Mosi Haynes, the son of a Windrush migrant whose status in the UK became complicated after the break-up of his marriage, said he had booked his own flight out of Britain because he was “too ashamed” to be deported.

MPS say that they know of many others, but so far the Home Office has been unable to put a number on how many Windrush migrants may have left under their own steam without informing officials. They do not believe anyone has been deported forcibly.

David Lammy, the Labour MP who

‘The Home Secretary has completely lost control. If I was responsible for this disgrace, I’d have resigned’

has led the charge on the issue, said yesterday that Windrush citizens were treated as “easy targets” and claimed that Ms Rudd “lied to Parliament” and “has completely lost control of her department”. He added: “If I was responsible for this disgrace, I would have resigned last week.”

The targets were revealed in a report by the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, published in December 2015.

It states: “For 2014-15 (10 full months) the Home Office set a target of 7,200 Voluntary Departures, an average of 120 per week, with the weekly target rising to 160 by the end of March 2015.

“For 2015-16, the annual target was raised to 12,000.”

A No 10 spokesman said that removal targets had been set by previous governments over a number of decades.