To wonder if Labour will apologise for Windrush

[silverTIRFer]

It seems like the Conservatives are doing all they can and have apologised for Windrush.

Now we know that it was a Labour government who decided to destroy the landing cards of those Commonwealth citizens, will JC apologise (as he said May should) or will he shut up and move on to more misguided posturing.

AIBU in thinking that populist grandstanding is not in the best interests of our country?

I think the point is that Labour & the Conservatives are equally not to blame - this was a decision made by a department, with no reference to ministers, and that decision brackets 2 governments 2009-10.

Both should apologise, but neither are at fault...

I don't really think blame game for how this situation came about is helpful in this case since governments of both colours could have done better. However, the issue has come to light and Theresa May is sorting it.

JC needs to get his own ship in order before he attacks others. And he knows it!

@Believeitornot

and ...

So if the Tories are so horrified by it why didn't they fix it in the six years they've been in power?

Why did Mrs May go along with the deportations so gleefully during her time as Home Secretary if they thought it was wrong?

You started a thread to try and have a go at Labour, you’re shown that actually maybe it was not labour after all and wonder why you are being asked to apologise.

That’s why.

As for the conservatives doing all that they can.... hahahahahahahahaha HA.

They’ve only done something because the headlines have turned. Not because they’re caring.

The Tories have been around for nearly 8 years.

They use the language of the national front from years ago. That tells me all I need to know.

And no, I don’t vote Labour before you make that claim.

I don't think either party comes out well over this. Amelia Gentleman in the Guardian and Channel 4 news have been talking about the scandal for months, but, apart from a question at PMQs, never followed up, Labour have missed a trick here. Diane Abbott as Shadow H.S. should have been all over it as soon as it came to light.

@Believeitornot

The thread I started isn't the one you've actually answered though, is it. I used "wonder" and "seems" speaking about Windrush and asked

AIBU in thinking that populist grandstanding is not in the best interests of our country?

I don't care who you vote for. If I'd had to guess I'd say you don't vote.

You’re back tracking.

You “wonder” if Labour will apologise because you thought they were the ones who’d deleted the landing cards....

I, among others, questioned your thread because did Labour do it.... so the original question was based on flawed assumptions.

If you’d said “wow this Windrush thing is so bad, all political parties should question their role”, etc then you’d have got a different response.

But you were clearly using it as a reason to bash Labour and cheer the Tories (as they are, according to you “doing all they can”).

It’s not even election season. Although actually I guess it is, with the local elections coming up.

Not backtracking. It's all written down in previous posts.

Of course

Your line about political grandstanding was directed at JC.....

Well, you know what they say about assuming, don't you.

The destruction of the cards is a side issue. It wouldn't have been an issue if TM hadn't introduced the hostile environment towards immigrants.

The fact that they were demanding four pieces of evidence of residency for every single year these people had lived here is far more relevant. It's basically an impossible ask. I've lived here all my life and I couldn't do that.

The only conclusion I can come to is that they set a high bar knowing full well that it would disadvantage people who were here legally but they did not care.

The landing cards only showed what date they had arrived, they were not proof of continuous residency. Although they would have been helpful and should have been scanned and saved digitally.

Agree with believeitornot

Again...another one here who doesnt vote labour

Just a bit tired of the whole 'bob hit me...well tom hit someone last week' arguments

If the best defence for your political party is 'they did it too' you might just be supporting the wrong one

I had plenty to go on based on your OP. Go back and read it. Quote the whole thing, not just choice bits and then please defend your point again.

@Believeitornot

"Go back and read it. Quote the whole thing"

OK.

It seems like the Conservatives are doing all they can and have apologised for Windrush.

They have apologised. Fact.

They seem to be doing all they can.

www.freemovement.org.uk/home-office-help-windrush-children-commonwealth-citizens/

"A new dedicated team will be set up to help those people to evidence their right to be here and to access the necessary services ... tasked with resolving cases within two weeks when the evidence has been provided.""

"ensure that the group will not pay for this documentation ... there will be no charge for it."

"We are going to work with them in a cross-Government way, so if they come to us with their address and date of birth, we will start from that point and try to build a picture to evidence the circumstances and, within two weeks, get them the permits that they need to be able to access services."

Now we know that it was a Labour government who decided to destroy the landing cards of those Commonwealth citizens

I've said that perhaps this could have been tempered to 'initiated' or 'proposed' or 'began the process of ...'

will JC apologise (as he said May should) or will he shut up and move on to more misguided posturing.

I gave examples of his misguided posturing such as the dead previously-deported child abuser (why was he homeless, evil Tories!)

AIBU in thinking that populist grandstanding is not in the best interests of our country?

Well, that's a question not a position so doesn't really need defending.

I can give a brief explanation of why Corby / Momentum are populist but I don't think that's a contested issue, is it?

Didn't they apologise EVENTUALLY?
After first refusing to meet with commonwealth leaders to discuss?

If it wasn't petitions, media etc, they still would not have bothered to have the conversation.

Btw you asked your AIBU whilst using untrue statements as facts.

@Faultymain5

I struggle to take people seriously when they misappropriate "conversation" quite so much.

I don't understand some people's preoccupation with "the conversation" which is usually people arguing on a corner of the internet. PMQs or parliamentary debate is not "the conversation".

" you asked your AIBU whilst using untrue statements as facts."

Still no.

AIBU in thinking that populist grandstanding is not in the best interests of our country?

It seems like the Conservatives are doing all they can

Ha hahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Yeah right.

And BTW Labour are no better.

The politicians are pathetic in this and the civil servants are useless.

I guess what matters most now is what the government will do to rectify the situation.

Under the previous Labour government, there was an operational plan to scan the Windrush documents and scrap the paper and card originals. This would have saved storage space, and therefore saved taxpayers’ money. The evidence would have been retained. So far, so good. The General Election of 2010 changed all that, and when TM was our Home Secretary the documents were not scanned to save money. When our immigration laws were changed in 2014, a number of MPs including the much maligned Diane Abbott, warned of the consequences but to no avail. Can the OP explain precisely what and why she wants Labour to apologise for?

So, The Tories once in power from 2010 could not have overturned a decision, apparently made by the previous Labour administration?

i do recall they over turned plenty of other Labour policies.

It was great distraction politics from May but she was Home Sec and should take responsibility for this long term policy, the Tories have been in power for 8 years and from disabilities to immigration been more than keen to match ukip etc on such issues.
The Gov is apologising because they ve been found out NOT because they are genuinely sorry.
May seems to be treating this like it only happened for a few weeks and was carried out by a rogue civil servant who has now been sacked.
The people denied medical treatment, locked up in detention centres or who have lost employment do not get a second chance and neither should she.

@Motheroffourdragons

Not for a second. I think there's a big difference between asking questions and populist politics and grandstanding though. If you demand empty apologies to score childish points then you should be happy to give them too.

I think a strong opposition is a key part of a balanced democracy.

I would love to see a fractionally right-of-centre party with a workable majority and a fractionally left-of-centre party as a credible opposition. I'm a big fan of Blair's first term and it's the only time I've actively campaigned. Oh, I'm a floating voter, not a Tory troll.