The #Windrush” scandal- Theresa May’s blatant racism exposed when she was in charge of the Home Office

April 17th, 2018

Awake Goy

One of the most appalling elements of the Windrush generation immigration scandal is that the mess is so easily fixable. The government has long had the right and the facility to grant indefinite leave to remain to those whose presence in the country may be technically questionable but socially desirable. That it has chosen not to do so tells us much, as does today’s revelation that No 10 has snubbed a plea from Commonwealth heads of government for talks about the debacle.The government has not acted decisively so far because it has not felt compelled to do so. For many months now, the Guardian reporter Amelia Gentleman has trodden a lonely path in trying to highlight these stories, without exciting the sort of supplementary interest from other media that might persuade ministers and their advisers that failure to do so placed their own futures in jeopardy. But in recent days, other newspapers and broadcasters have begun to expose the government’s failure to act. The equation, and with it the level of risk to politicians and bureaucrats, has changed. That speaks to the power of the media even now to hold the system to account, a vital component of our democracy. But it also says some sorry things about Theresa May and those who do her bidding.

This is a government that lacks purpose and obvious competence. We see that in its stewardship of the NHS, the benefits system, and most of all, its muddling towards an ill-considered, undefined, illogical Brexit. But what is just as disturbing, given the might of government and the extent to which its activities have a direct effect on people’s lives, is the lack of any moral grounding or emotional intelligence. It wields power disproportionately and clumsily. It tramples on the cares of ordinary people like a drunk in hobnail boots.

It is said that up close, May herself is thoughtful and personable, but when it’s time to go to work, she is the leader who thought the best way to allay immigration concerns was to hire vans with advertising boards telling undesired immigrants to “go home”. She is the one who sent the signal to her officials that, henceforth, those whose immigration status was questionable should find Britain a “hostile environment”. She is the one who went to Grenfell and, initially at least, couldn’t spare the time to speak to victims. She runs a government that tells the infirm that they must work and disabled people that they aren’t really disabled.

Leaders lead. Followers follow. If you look at May’s bloodless, technocratic approach to government, you easily understand how those who serve her feel able, or perhaps compelled, to do their jobs unburdened by any demand for compassion or empathy. She sets the tone. She must change it. She could start today by meeting the Caribbean leaders and responding to their concerns, as well as those voiced by 140 MPs from across the political spectrum.

Of course, that will require political navigation. She knows that after the poisonous Brexit campaign – and thanks to her lieutenants, messrs Gove and Johnson – the public expectation is that by fair means or foul, she will be tough towards immigrants. But even her own logic dictates a different approach. Along with the “deep and special” relationship she envisages with the EU post-Brexit, her ministers promise a new and vital recoupling with the Commonwealth. How does this mistreatment of its people, this trashing of historic ties and this deaf ear to the concerns of its representatives, forward that strategy?

It could be that, in their calculations, ministers believed that there would be no groundswell of support for middle-aged black people, irrespective of any ties they have or the contributions they have made to communities up and down the country. In that, again, the technocrats are being proved wrong by the media, MPs and the public. That may be the only heartening development so far in this sorry affair.

• Hugh Muir is associate editor of Guardian Opinion

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