May ‘misled MPs’ over man denied cancer care
PM rejects Corbyn’s ‘callous’ jibe at PMQs
THERESA MAY was yesterday accused of misleading MPs about a man who has been denied free NHS cancer treatment despite living in Britain for 44 years, as she endured more pressure over the Windrush scandal.
The Prime Minister was criticised over the case of a man referred to as Albert Thompson, who was not a member of the Windrush generation but arrived months later, reportedly from Jamaica, and has lived here and paid taxes ever since.
Mrs May said Mr Thompson – not his real name – “will be receiving the treatment he needs”.
But senior Labour MP Chuka Umunna insisted his constituent in Streatham had not had the radiotherapy he requires and had not been informed of any plans to give him treatment.
Mrs May was responding to Jeremy Corbyn, who accused her of “brushing off ” Mr Thompson’s case when he raised it last month.
She replied at Prime Minister’s Questions: “It was not brushed off, the Home Office have been in contact with Mr Thompson’s representatives.
“First of all I want to make one point very clear – that no urgent treatment should be withheld by the NHS regardless of ability or willingness to pay.
“I also want to make clear that as it happens Mr Thompson is not part of the Windrush generation. And finally, clinicians have been looking at Mr Thompson’s case and he will be receiving the treatment he needs.”
Raising a point of order later, Mr Umunna said: “He needs radiotherapy treatment but my constituent hasn’t received his treatment and if there are any plans that have been made for him to get this treatment then he certainly has not been informed of it, that is a fact and to say otherwise is wrong.
“He is making a fresh application for indefinite leave to remain, the Prime Minister needs to commit to that application being processed immediately so that he can get this treatment, which the Royal Marsden Hospital is not prepared to give him unless he can pay up front or prove his right to residency.
“I’m sure the Prime Minister will not want to have misled the House and will want to come here and correct the record.”
THERESA MAY yesterday hit back at accusations the Government has been “callous and incompetent” in its treatment of the Windrush generation amid angry political recriminations over the scandal.
During furious exchanges with Jeremy Corbyn at Prime Minister’s Questions, Mrs May said she would not take lessons from a leader who “allows anti-Semitism to run rife in his party”.
It followed a highly personal attack by the Labour leader who said it was her “pandering to bogus immigration targets” with a “hostile environment policy” when she was Home Secretary that had cost people jobs, homes and pensions.
Mr Corbyn also accused the Government of destroying thousands of landing cards of Commonwealth citizens, which could have helped confirm their immigration status.
However, Mrs May said the destruction had taken place in 2009 under Labour.
But her statement sparked confusion after a Downing Street spokesman later said the UK Border Agency approved a business case in June 2009 to dispose of paper records, including the landing slips, and the process of destroying them began in December that year.
But the operational decision to destroy the slips themselves was taken in October 2010, when Mrs May was home secretary.
She was not involved in the decision, which was taken at official level, said the spokesman.
The PM again apologised to Windrush citizens who have had their immigration status questioned and some threatened with deportation.
Mrs May told MPs the Government was committed to helping those who had been wrongly questioned by the Home Office to resolve their position as quickly as possible.
“These people are British. They are part of us. I want to be absolutely clear that we have no intention of asking anyone to leave who has the right to remain here,” she told MPs.
“For those who have mistakenly received letters challenging them, I want to apologise to them and I want to say sorry to anyone who has been caused confusion and anxiety by this.”
Mr Corbyn said: “This is a shameful episode and the responsibility for it lies firmly at the Prime Minister’s door.
“Her pandering to bogus immigration targets led to a hostile environment for people contributing to our country.”
The exchanges came as it emerged 49 people had on Tuesday contacted a new Home Office hotline set up to help Commonwealth citizens whose immigration status has been challenged.
The problems affected those arrived in the years up to 1973 – often as schoolchildren – who automatically received the right to live in the UK but who never acquired documents such as a passport, to prove their status.
Commenting on the confusion around the landing cards debate, A Labour Party spokesman said: “The Government’s story is shifting by the hour.
“At PMQs, the Prime Minister tried to shift the blame on to the last Labour government but was undermined by her own spokesperson minutes later. In the confusion, one thing is already clear. The change in the law in 2014 that meant members of the Windrush generation faced deportation and the loss of their rights, including to healthcare, was made in full view of the fact that the vital information had been destroyed.”
Labour MP for Leeds North East Fabian Hamilton said people with Indian heritage who also came to the UK before 1973 were facing similar issues. “We have had cases that have brought some of my staff to tears with the way that people have been treated, the cruelty with which they have been treated,” he said.