Windrush: Home Office to 'learn lessons' through internal review

The Home Office is to hold an internal review of its handling of the Windrush scandal, Theresa May has said.

She told MPs it would have "full access" to all relevant documents, including policy papers and case files.

Her announcement came as Labour prepares to try and force ministers to release all government papers relating to Windrush cases since 2010.

Jeremy Corbyn said the crisis had been "made in the Home Office" under Theresa May's leadership.

At Prime Minister's Questions, he asked Mrs May whether she "felt a pang of guilt" about the resignation of Amber Rudd over the issue earlier this week.

The prime minister said the inquiry would seek to "learn lessons" from the treatment of Windrush families, some of whom have been detained and threatened with deportation after their right to remain in the UK was questioned.

It will aim to complete its work before the summer recess in July.

She said "speed is of the essence" and new home secretary Sajid Javid "will be commissioning a full review of lessons learned, independent oversight and external challenge”.

The review, she said, will have "full access to all relevant information in the Home Office, including policy papers and casework decisions”.

The Conservatives are expected to oppose a Labour motion which would see all relevant internal documents handed to the Commons Home Affairs Committee.

Prime Minister launches inquiry into handling of Windrush scandal

Prime Minister Theresa May has said the Home Office will carry out an internal investigation into its handling of the Windrush scandal.

Thousands of people from the Caribbean who arrived in the UK as children - known as the Windrush generation - have been wrongly told that they live in the UK illegally.

Some have lost their jobs, access to the NHS and welfare systems, while others have been sent to immigration detention centres and told they face deportation.

The main opposition Labour party said it wants all the evidence from the Home Office inquiry to be shared.

Labour has called for a vote in the House of Commons to try to force the government to give the ‘secret’ Windrush documents to the Commons Home Affairs Committee - a cross-party group of MPs that scrutinises the work of Home Office.

The Conservatives are expected to oppose the Labour motion.

Mrs May has apologised to Caribbean leaders and reassured them that no one from the Windrush generation will have to leave the UK.

How did we get to this point?

Many of the Windrush generation arrived in the UK on their parents’ passports. In 1971 they were told they could stay permanently but the government didn't keep a full record of them. Some people didn't apply for official paperwork like a UK passport.

In 2012 there was a change to immigration law and people were told they needed official documents to prove they could get things like free hospital treatment or benefits in this country.

But many of the original landing cards were destroyed by the Home Office in 2010 while Theresa May was in charge there.

At Prime Minister’s Questions - the weekly 30-minute session in the House of Commons when Mrs May answers MPs’ questions - the Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn brought up the recent resignation of Home Secretary Amber Rudd.

Ms Rudd quit saying she “inadvertently” misled MPs over government targets for removing illegal migrants. It was revealed that targets do exist - despite her telling a Commons committee they didn't.

Mrs May said the inquiry will investigate - and learn from - all the mistakes the government has made.

The new home secretary, Sajid Javid, will be in charge of keeping the inquiry on track.

He said: “This review will seek to draw out how members of the Windrush generation came to be entangled in measures designed for illegal immigrants, why that was not spotted sooner, and whether the right corrective measures are now in place.”

The review is expected to be finished before MPs’ summer break in July.