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PICTURED: Sajid Javid (Photo credit: Anna Gowthorpe/PA Wire)

THE CALLS for Amber Rudd’s resignation began from that now famous exchange between her and Labour MP David Lammy in the House of Commons on April 21.

The emergency debate about the treatment of the Windrush Generation in the Home Office made the headlines. Lammy called it a day of national shame.

But the calls for her to go got even louder last week when leaked documents showed that Rudd was aware of removal targets by the Home Office despite telling a Home Affairs Commons Select Committee she didn’t.

Her inevitable resignation as Home Secretary late on Sunday night forced PM Theresa May to find a quick replacement to quell the rushing tide from the Windrush scandal before it turned into a tsunami that could overwhelm her government. In stepped Sajid Javid to take on one of the most challenging jobs in government.

But Amber Rudd’s departure left a bittersweet feeling among critics. Some felt she had to go because of her performance and because of her denials of a removal target.

Others, however, were of the opinion that she took the fall for Theresa May as they believe she was the architect of the 2014 ‘hostile immigration policy’ which has now affected many of the Windrush Generation.

Whatever the feelings, Amber Rudd was at the heart of a scandal that has affected many lives, some left in ruins because of uncertainty over their status in this country, while others still have the threat of deportation as in the case of Yvonne Williams who we have featured this week.

The immediate job for new Home Secretary Sajid Javid is to get to grips with the Windrush crisis and he has swiftly indicated his first task will be to ensure those affected “are all treated with the decency and the fairness they deserve”.

But as Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott quite rightly challenged him in their first exchange in the House, “these are all nice words, but people want to see action.”

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