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You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/30/sajid-javid-may-windrush-crisis-home-secretary
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| Version 3 | Version 4 |
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| Sajid Javid’s promotion shows May finally gets the Windrush crisis | Sajid Javid’s promotion shows May finally gets the Windrush crisis |
| (30 days later) | |
| Had Theresa May won a majority in the disastrous snap election, Sajid Javid would currently be in political Siberia – licking his wounds on the backbench. The prime minister’s relationship with Javid – a free marketeer who makes it a rule to read the courtroom scene in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead not once, but twice a year – can hardly be described as warm. When it came to talk of a post-election revenge reshuffle, Javid had the dubious honour of having a permanent place at the top end of the list. He then repaid the favour when May lost her majority – using the first post-election cabinet to savage her for the high-handed way May’s team had run No 10. | Had Theresa May won a majority in the disastrous snap election, Sajid Javid would currently be in political Siberia – licking his wounds on the backbench. The prime minister’s relationship with Javid – a free marketeer who makes it a rule to read the courtroom scene in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead not once, but twice a year – can hardly be described as warm. When it came to talk of a post-election revenge reshuffle, Javid had the dubious honour of having a permanent place at the top end of the list. He then repaid the favour when May lost her majority – using the first post-election cabinet to savage her for the high-handed way May’s team had run No 10. |
| Don’t let Rudd’s departure distract from a toxic policy that needs to die | David Lammy | Don’t let Rudd’s departure distract from a toxic policy that needs to die | David Lammy |
| So it follows that Javid’s appointment as home secretary is revealing for a number of reasons. Proving that when life gives you lemons, lemonade can always be made by someone somewhere is the MP for Bromsgrove. After that disastrous election, May was too weak to sack Javid and now after another government disaster in the form of the Windrush scandal, he has been appointed as Amber Rudd’s replacement. | So it follows that Javid’s appointment as home secretary is revealing for a number of reasons. Proving that when life gives you lemons, lemonade can always be made by someone somewhere is the MP for Bromsgrove. After that disastrous election, May was too weak to sack Javid and now after another government disaster in the form of the Windrush scandal, he has been appointed as Amber Rudd’s replacement. |
| The move will be well received by Brexiteers as although Javid is technically a remainer, he is much more Eurosceptic than Rudd. This means May’s Brexit war cabinet tips slightly in the Brexiteers’ favour. However, the most striking aspects of the appointment don’t relate to Brexit but to May’s approach to governing. | The move will be well received by Brexiteers as although Javid is technically a remainer, he is much more Eurosceptic than Rudd. This means May’s Brexit war cabinet tips slightly in the Brexiteers’ favour. However, the most striking aspects of the appointment don’t relate to Brexit but to May’s approach to governing. |
| Javid’s promotion suggests that the Maybot is learning new tricks. Ahead of the announcement, there was growing concern among Tory MPs that May would plump for one of her lackeys – like Karen Bradley or Gavin Williamson – who would toe the party line on immigration. By appointing Javid, May is giving a clear indication that she is willing to change. | Javid’s promotion suggests that the Maybot is learning new tricks. Ahead of the announcement, there was growing concern among Tory MPs that May would plump for one of her lackeys – like Karen Bradley or Gavin Williamson – who would toe the party line on immigration. By appointing Javid, May is giving a clear indication that she is willing to change. |
| Theresa May denies Rudd resigned over PM's own hostile environment policy - Politics live | Theresa May denies Rudd resigned over PM's own hostile environment policy - Politics live |
| The son of immigrants, Javid has been open about his dismay at the way in which the government has handled the Windrush scandal. When news first broke two weeks ago that Downing Street had declined a request from Commonwealth leaders for a meeting to discuss the problem, he was one of the first to break ranks to say he was “deeply concerned” about the difficulties faced by “people who have been longstanding pillars of our community”. This weekend he went further, telling a journalist that he felt the shambles personally too as he “thought that could be my mum … my dad … my uncle … it could be me”. His appointment suggests that No 10 now grasps the scale of the problem – or is at the very least learning how to spin a crisis. | The son of immigrants, Javid has been open about his dismay at the way in which the government has handled the Windrush scandal. When news first broke two weeks ago that Downing Street had declined a request from Commonwealth leaders for a meeting to discuss the problem, he was one of the first to break ranks to say he was “deeply concerned” about the difficulties faced by “people who have been longstanding pillars of our community”. This weekend he went further, telling a journalist that he felt the shambles personally too as he “thought that could be my mum … my dad … my uncle … it could be me”. His appointment suggests that No 10 now grasps the scale of the problem – or is at the very least learning how to spin a crisis. |
| As home secretary Javid will want to stamp his own mark on the department that has earned a reputation as a political graveyard. Rudd’s allies suggest that her downfall was to not do so sooner. By playing ball with May’s policies, the former home secretary was too embroiled in the culture to separate herself from it when things started to go wrong. Javid is unlikely to make the same mistake. | As home secretary Javid will want to stamp his own mark on the department that has earned a reputation as a political graveyard. Rudd’s allies suggest that her downfall was to not do so sooner. By playing ball with May’s policies, the former home secretary was too embroiled in the culture to separate herself from it when things started to go wrong. Javid is unlikely to make the same mistake. |
| Will Javid do what Rudd failed to do and stand up to May? | Will Javid do what Rudd failed to do and stand up to May? |
| While he has been outspoken on the need to listen to “legitimate concerns” on immigration, the new home secretary is no fan of May’s tens of thousands immigration target – Javid thinks immigration should not be a numbers game. Nor is he thought to be particularly partial to keeping student numbers in it. The prime minister is in the minority on both of these issues, but up until now ministers felt she had control. The Windrush scandal has given them the courage of their convictions, and they expect this to be the next big cabinet battle. | While he has been outspoken on the need to listen to “legitimate concerns” on immigration, the new home secretary is no fan of May’s tens of thousands immigration target – Javid thinks immigration should not be a numbers game. Nor is he thought to be particularly partial to keeping student numbers in it. The prime minister is in the minority on both of these issues, but up until now ministers felt she had control. The Windrush scandal has given them the courage of their convictions, and they expect this to be the next big cabinet battle. |
| And will Javid do what Rudd failed to do, and stand up to May? Given that there is little love lost between the pair, he has the advantage that he doesn’t have much to lose. | And will Javid do what Rudd failed to do, and stand up to May? Given that there is little love lost between the pair, he has the advantage that he doesn’t have much to lose. |
| • Katy Balls is the Spectator’s political correspondent | • Katy Balls is the Spectator’s political correspondent |
| Commonwealth immigration | Commonwealth immigration |
| Opinion | Opinion |
| Sajid Javid | Sajid Javid |
| Theresa May | Theresa May |
| Conservatives | Conservatives |
| Windrush scandal | Windrush scandal |
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