Amber Rudd Quits As Home Secretary To Take 'Responsibility' For Misleading MPs Over Targets For Kicking Out illegal Immigrants

Home Secretary Amber Rudd shocked Westminster last night by resigning over the raging Windrush scandal

Amber Rudd finally bowed to massive pressure last night and quit saying she had to 'take responsibility' for misleading parliament over deportation targets for illegal migrants.

With no sign of the scandal blowing over, the Home Secretary decided to fall on her sword rather than face more humiliation.

'I feel it is necessary to do so because I inadvertently misled the Home Affairs Select Committee,' she said - admitting she 'should have been aware' the targets existed.  

The dramatic departure will be a huge blow for Theresa May - and potentially leaves her personally vulnerable. 


Ms Rudd has acted as an lightning rod for her predecessor in the Home Office amid the outcry over the Windrush immigration debacle.

It appears that Ms Rudd took the decision to quit herself, despite Downing Street previously trying to prop her up. She telephoned the PM to inform her of the move late on Sunday.

In her response to Ms Rudd, Mrs May said she was 'very sorry' to receive the resignation. The premier said she still believed Ms Rudd had answered questions from MPs in 'good faith'.

Tories expressed sadness at the departure - while opposition parties wasted no time in turning their fire on Mrs May.

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson said: 'I see Amber Rudd is carrying the can for the person originally responsible for this scandal - Theresa May.' 

The timing of the resignation took Westminster by surprise. There was intense speculation that Ms Rudd might go on Friday night after the emergence of a leaked Home Office memo that had been copied to the minister.

Amber Rudd's resignation letter to the Prime Minister, saying she had 'inadvertently misled' MPs over targets for removal of illegal immigrants

In her resignation letter, Ms Rudd admitted she 'should have been aware' the targets existed. Mrs May said she was 'sorry' to accept the resignation

It spelled out that there were both national and regional targets for deportations of illegal immigrants - seemingly contradicting the evidence Ms Rudd gave to the Home Affairs select committee a day earlier.

But after hours of ominous silence from the Home Office, Ms Rudd broke cover to insist she would stay on.

She vowed she genuinely did not know about the targets when she gave evidence to MPs - and said she would make her case to the Commons in a statement tomorrow.

Rudd becomes the fifth Cabinet minister to quit

Five cabinet members have left their positions in the 10 months since June's snap general election where the Conservatives lost their majority in the House of Commons.

The first to leave was Defence Secretary Michael Fallon, who resigned his post after being caught up in Westminster sleaze allegations.

He admitted his standards had 'fallen below the high standards required' after he admitted putting his hand on the knee of radio presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer some years ago when he resigned on November 1.

A week later, Priti Patel quit as international development secretary over secret meetings in Israel, including with Benjamin Netanyahu.

In her resignation letter, she echoed the words of Mr Fallon, saying her actions 'fell below the high standards' expected.

Theresa May suffered a third cabinet loss in seven weeks when Damian Green left as First Secretary of State in December.

While serving as Mrs May's de facto deputy, Mr Green made 'misleading' statements about allegations that police found pornography on computers in his parliamentary office in 2008 which breached the ministerial code.

Northern Ireland secretary James Brokenshire left the cabinet in January after standing down on health grounds, and Mrs Rudd became the fifth cabinet member to leave amid claims she misled Parliament over targets for removing illegal migrants.However having seen mounting evidence in the paperwork about the extent of the knowledge within the Home Office about the targets she decided that she should take responsibility and go.    

It comes after another private letter which included 'ambitious and deliverable' migrant deportation targets emerged, after Rudd claimed she knew nothing about them.

Ms Rudd appeared to have signed the correspondence, which said her department aimed to 'increase the number of enforced removals by more than ten per cent', in January last year.

The Home Secretary had already claimed that she had never seen a previous memo referencing immigration targets - and the letter appears to have been the final straw.

In her letter of resignation, Ms Rudd said she was resigning because she had 'inadvertently' misled the Commons Home Affairs Committee.

'Since appearing before the select committee, I have reviewed the advice I was given on this issue and become aware of information provided to my office which makes mention of targets. I should have been aware of this and I take full responsibility for the fact that I was not,' she wrote.

She went on: 'The Windrush scandal has rightly shone a light on an important issue for our country. As so often, the instincts of the British people are right. They want people who have a right to live here to be treated fairly and humanely, which has sometimes not been the case.

'But they also want the Government to remove those who don't have the right to be here. I had hoped in coming months to devise a policy that would allow the Government to meet both these vital objectives - including bringing forward urgent legislation to ensure the right of the Windrush generation are protected.' 

In her reply, Mrs May said she was 'very sorry' Ms Rudd had decided to stand down but that she understood her reasons for doing so. 

'When you addressed the House of Commons and the Home Affairs Select Committee last week on the issue of illegal immigration, you answered the questions put to you in good faith,' she wrote. 

Via - Dailymail