Theresa May accused of running 'racist' Government amid Windrush scandal

Activists protest discrimination of Windrush Generation immigrants
Activists protest discrimination of Windrush Generation immigrants

Theresa May has been accused of discrimination and leading an ‘institutionally racist’ Government, by a senior Labour MP.

The Shadow Women and Equalities Secretary Dawn Butler said the Prime Minister’s policies surrounding Windrush generation immigrants were delivering ‘institutionalised racism’.

Ms Butler said the Prime Minister could be accused of racism, telling Sky News: ‘Yes, she is the leader.

‘She is presiding over legislation … discriminating against a whole group of people who came from the Commonwealth, who suffered racism when they came over – the ‘no blacks, no Irish, no dogs’ – and now they are having to relive that trauma all over again because of Theresa May.’

Pressed on whether Mrs May was racist, the frontbencher said: ‘In my own personal opinion, and I’m speaking as myself as Dawn Butler, the daughter of Jamaican parents, I’m saying that Theresa May has presided over racist legislation that has discriminated against a whole generation of people from the Commonwealth.

Labour frontbencher Dawn Butler has called May’s policies affecting the Windrush generation ‘institutionally racist’ (PA)
Labour frontbencher Dawn Butler has called May’s policies affecting the Windrush generation ‘institutionally racist’ (PA)

‘Her policies, that she has implemented, have disproportionately affected people from the Commonwealth and people of colour.

‘Therefore, if you look at what institutional racism is, that’s what her policies are currently delivering.

‘So, Theresa May has to not only reconsider her position, but she has to reconsider her policies, and an apology is not good enough.’

Butler’s comments come in the wake of a slew of stories about members of the Windrush generation facing problems with access to healthcare, and other state services due to the ‘hostile environment’ policy that was designed to clampdown on illegal immigrants.

The policy was brought in by then Home Secretary Mrs May in 2014.

Home Office under Theresa May was urged to act on problems facing Windrush generation in 2014
Home Office under Theresa May was urged to act on problems facing Windrush generation in 2014

Many of the Windrush generation – who arrived in the country from the Caribbean between the late 1940s and 1970s – have no record of their status, and have found it challenged under recent laws that require them to provide proof of near-continuous residence.

The controversy has also seen calls for the Home Secretary Amber Rudd to quit.

Labour’s shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry, speaking on the Andrew Marr Show, said there was something ‘rotten at the heart of government’

Thornberry added: ‘People have died, people have lost their jobs lost their futures. People working in the national health service all their lives suddenly lose their jobs.

‘It could not be worse and yet the Home Secretary thinks ‘I can apologise and it will be alright’. Well, it won’t be. I really think she should quit’

Justice Secretary David Gauke said the Home Secretary should not resign, telling the BBC: ‘No, because when it comes down to it, the central policy is right.

‘Clearly, there have been very significant failures in terms of how this has been implemented.

‘I think it is right that both the Home Secretary and Prime Minister have apologised for this.’

Asked if he felt ashamed about what had happened, Mr Gauke said: ‘Yes. It is wrong what has happened. It should not have happened.’