Theresa May’s hostile environment strategy just isn’t working

By Thom Brooks

The heartbreaking stories emerging of people from the Windrush generation have been shocking. Invited to Britain, then targeted for deportation many decades later based on a mistake shattering lives and creating public outrage. The cause is Theresa May’s ‘hostile environment’ approach to immigration that saw everyone as guilty unless proven innocent and where the Home Office helped destroy evidence that would have helped those it made victims. Apologies have been offered, but the government is refusing to see the Windrush scandal […]

Cat Smith meets with youth groups to consult on a statutory youth service

By Sienna Rodgers

Today Labour will begin consulting on a pledge to implement a statutory youth service. Cat Smith, Shadow Minister for Voter Engagement and Youth Affairs, will host a roundtable discussion in Westminster this afternoon with representatives from Unite, Unison and key youth organisations including ChooseYouth. Currently councils are under no obligation to provide a youth service. The area is one of the first to face swingeing cuts under the Conservative government’s austerity measures, which have seen local authorities experience unprecedented funding reductions. New analysis by Labour […]

No end in sight to May’s Windrush troubles

By Sienna Rodgers

The Windrush scandal continues. Today the Guardian piles further pressure on the Tories to roll back their “hostile environment” immigration policy as a Home Office letter shows ministers have been aware of its impact on the Windrush generation for years. Shadow Immigration Minister Afzal Khan’s LabourList piece noted that May could use a statutory instrument to restore the protections taken away by the Immigration Act in 2014. But the Prime Minister’s signature stubbornness means no shift in policy direction. It doesn’t look like Amber Rudd […]

Clear the Lobby: The week ahead in Parliament

All the big themes rumble on — Brexit, Syria, the fallout from Windrush — but inside Westminster MPs are voting on a whole host of laws. There’s also a private members’ bill day on Friday. You can get this round-up in your email inbox every Sunday or follow Clear the Lobby on Twitter for daily updates. Monday 23 April Rating (Property in Common Occupation) and Council Tax (Empty Dwellings) Bill – 2nd reading Reinstates an earlier law whereby properties owned by the same company that […]

WATCH: Can the PM be personally accused of racism? “Yes,” says Butler

Today Dawn Butler said Theresa May can be personally accused of racism and held the Prime Minister responsible for “racist legislation”. Speaking to Niall Paterson on Sky about the Windrush crisis, the Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary described the Tory government as “institutionally racist”, Asked whether the Prime Minister could be personally accused of racism, Butler replied: “Yes. “She is the leader that’s presiding over legislation that’s discriminating against a whole group of people who came from the Commonwealth, who suffered racism when they came over, […]