Boris Johnson argues for immigration amnesty in wake of Windrush scandal
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Boris Johnson reportedly clashed with Theresa May on introducing a broader amnesty for long-standing immigrants in the wake of the Windrush scandal.
On Monday the Home Secretary announced that Commomwealth migrants who arrived in Britain before 1973 would be able to become citizens without the documentation or fees normally required.
But Mr Johnson argued that this now needs to be extended to all illegal immigrants who have lived in the UK for more than a decade and not committed crimes.
The foreign secretary is understood to have been among several Cabinet ministers urging a more liberal approach to immigration.
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
This comes after Theresa May’s hardline approach to immigration was blamed for causing the Windrush scandal.
The then-Home Secretary introduced a “hostile environment” for illegal immigrants by forcing employers and landlords to check on the immigration status of prospective applicants.
But as many of the Windrush generation did not have the official documents they have been denied healthcare, lost their jobs or even been threatened with facing deportation.
Labour MPs have warned that there are thousands of others facing the same problems as the Windrush generation.
(Image: PA)
The shadow home secretary Diane Abbott warned Amber Rudd in the House of Commons: “The Home Secretary need not believe this ends here.
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“Coming up behind the Windrush cohort is a slightly later cohort of persons from south Asia.
“In the next few years, even though they have lived here all their life, even though their children are British and even though they have worked all their life, they will be asked for four pieces of data for every year they have been here, and they will be subjected to the same humiliation as the Windrush generation.”