Remember the Tories were going to end the hostile environment? Remember how sorry they were about it? Remember how “grateful” they were to the Windrush generation? Remember they were going to “reset” policymaking after the departure of Cummings and Cain? And remember (see previous blog) how I said they wouldn’t?

    Well, they haven’t. Ken Morgan’s story won’t be the last to demonstrate “business as usual” at the Home Office. And don’t imagine that it makes much difference who is Home Secretary or which government is in power. Ken Morgan’s story began in 1994 under John Major’s Tory government; we’ve had 3 Labour governments, a Tory/LibDem coalition and 3 Tory governments since then. Under all those governments, and with their connivance, the Home Office maintained its racist hostility to migrants and asylum seekers. Tory Home Secretary Michael Howard agreed with his fellow Tory Ann Widdicombe that the UK was a “soft touch” for asylum seekers and said that “only a tiny proportion of them are genuine refugees”. Labour Home Secretary David Blunkett later said they were “swamping our schools”.

    If by some miracle Priti Patel was ousted from her post as Home Secretary, it wouldn’t make much difference to any of this. After the Windrush scandal broke, Tory Home Secretary Savid Javid told us that the “hostile” environment had been changed to the “compliant” environment. That’s different, isn’t it? Yes. It suggests thumbscrews.

Windrush victim refused British citizenship despite wrongful passport confiscation
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/nov/22/windrush-victim-refused-british-citizenship-despite-wrongful-passport-confiscation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other