Senior politicians are calling for home secretary Amber Rudd to resign over the Windrush scandal. Speaking on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry called for Rudd to quit:
"I really think she should quit" – Labour's Emily Thornberry calls for Home Secretary Amber Rudd to resign over #Windrush row #Marr https://t.co/I6CE8hpCuM pic.twitter.com/rfEUxZgOQh
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) April 22, 2018
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell also called for Rudd’s resignation.
But social media users went further. They’re calling for Theresa May to resign as well due to her role in the scandal.
Deadly policy
Thornberry stated :
How much worse can it get? People have died.
Dexter Bristol collapsed and died on 31 March after being fired from his job and denied benefits. All because he didn’t have documentation proving his right to be in the UK. Also speaking on Marr, the poet and activist Benjamin Zephaniah stated:
we know he died of a broken heart.
Recent resignations
But while three cabinet ministers resigned in 2017 for comparable reasons, there have been no resignations over the Windrush scandal. The resignations included:
- Priti Patel who was forced to resign as international development secretary in November 2017 after failing to disclose multiple unofficial meetings with Israeli ministers and lobbyists.
- Michael Fallon who resigned as defence secretary. Journalist Jane Merrick’s accusation that Fallon lunged at her in 2003 proved to be the ‘final straw’.
- Damian Green who quit his role as first secretary of state in December 2017. Green was “asked to quit” after making inaccurate statements regarding claims that pornography was found on his office computer in 2008.
The buck stops at the top
As home secretary, May brought in the 2014 Immigration Act. The act removed a key protection against deportation for Windrush citizens. It is her policy that has plunged many lives into chaos.
This is why many people on Twitter believe May should also resign:
https://twitter.com/suoljj/status/987979033303568384
@EmilyThornberry was being nice. Theresa May should go as well. Sack the pair of them, as you would from any other job where lives were ruined as a direct consequence of appalling management. #Windrush
— Ray (@Warzoid) April 22, 2018
Why stop at Amber Rudd? Theresa May was in charge of the Home Office at the time. She should go too. She won't, of course. The RW press will protect her. Corbyn wears a tracksuit and it's front page news. May deports people illegally and the headlines are about the weather. #marr
— Frank Owen's Legendary Paintbrush🥀🇵🇸🇾🇪 (@OwenPaintbrush) April 22, 2018
Do as I say, not as I do
In opposition in 2004, May stated she was “sick and tired” of ministers not taking responsibility for their actions:
https://twitter.com/JamesMelville/status/987265032810528769
However, it seems there is one rule for her and another for everyone else.
The treatment of the Windrush generation is a national scandal. In this case, the buck must and should stop at the top.
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