Former Downing Street adviser Nick Timothy has written a column in the Telegraph today, claiming that Theresa May is not responsible for the infamously loathsome ‘Go Home’ vans sent out by the government in 2013 because, allegedly, she was against them and was on holiday when they were approved.
That does not appear to be borne out by other available information. It’s not clear exactly when the pilot project was ‘approved’, but Theresa May was certainly around in the run-up to their use – and neither objected publicly then, nor at any time during the four weeks or so of the scheme’s operation, nor indeed at any time afterward.
As James Dolman observed on Twitter, May was in observable action in the run-up to the scheme’s launch and during the project:
As @quiddany responded, she was also on show in the House of Commons:
As the excellent Zelo Street has pointed out, the back-office part of the project went on for a further two months, so Mrs May had ample time to be aware and act, if she was so inclined.
Home Office also refutes
A statement in 2016 by a Home Office minister also makes clear that Theresa May was fully informed of the project. Then-Immigration Minister Robert Goodwill told the Commons that, while his predecessor actually signed off the project, May was well aware:
The pilot to use the AdVans referred to was authorised by former immigration minister Rt. Hon. Mark Harper MP. The former Home Secretary, Rt. Hon. Theresa May MP was informed of the intention to pilot this campaign.
Of course, Theresa May was not merely ‘informed’. As Harper’s boss, she had the right to cancel the pilot – and the Theresa May who, just a year earlier had boasted of making the UK a seriously ‘hostile environment’ for illegal immigrants, was never likely to veto such a project.
Comment:
The efforts to rehabilitate Theresa May for her vileness toward immigrants generally and about the ‘Windrush generation’ in particular, are already underway. They can’t succeed – you can’t spin straw into silk, after all – but they are most certainly underway.
They were underway from the moment the ‘MSM’, including the BBC, began covering for her lie to MPs and the country yesterday.
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How many of the rules contained within the Tory Party’s Code of Conduct has Theresa May broken. ?
http://www.conservatives.com/codeofconduct
They should:
follow the Seven Principles of Public Life established by Lord Nolan and the Committee on Standards in Public Life:
Selflessness – Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest.
Integrity – Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work. They should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their family, or their friends. They must declare and resolve any interests and relationships.
Objectivity – Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without discrimination or bias.
Accountability – Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this.
Openness – Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.
Honesty – Holders of public office should be truthful.
Leadership – Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behavior.
They should actively promote and robustly support the principles and be willing to challenge poor behaviour wherever it occurs;
lead by example to encourage and foster respect and tolerance;
treat others in a professional and straightforward manner;
act with honesty and probity and in a manner which upholds the reputation and values of the Conservative Party. Such duty is fundamental. Conduct which the public may reasonably perceive as undermining a representative’s honesty and probity is likely to diminish trust and confidence placed in them, and the Party, by the public;
not use their position to bully, abuse, victimise, harass or unlawfully discriminate against others (see further the interpretation annex);
take reasonable steps to ensure that people who wish to raise concerns about bullying, discrimination, harassment and/or victimisation by others feel able to do so, and know how to follow the complaints procedure set out in this Code;
If any individuals wish to make a formal complaint against elected representatives or officers of the Party they should email complaints@conservatives.com
Was on holiday so wasn’t responsible….
What absolute garbage. Can anyone really be expected to believe that rubbish when May is an unrelenting authoritarian control freak.
If the HO had done this against her wishes she would have fired people, the only way this happened was with her approval.
She’s a proven authoritarian & control freak you only gave to look at other decision with other ministers complaining she has to control everything. Don’t believe a word that “thing” says I won’t refer to her as a woman she’s lost the right to be referred yo as human by her despicable actions.
She is a pig’s ear incarnate
Bigger liar than Jake
How did you get clip that to embed?
Sometimes works, sometimes not – wordpress ‘comments’ seems to have some seriously random rules.
Just copied & pasted youtube link for that one.
Couple of times I’ve got “awaiting moderation” when I’ve included links.
If I post more than one link it puts the post into moderation…
Almost believable; her being on holiday…Like the other 51 weeks of the year, and the other 649 MP’s. More time off than the Pope’s John Thomas, them bone-idle gets.
And it’s bollocks, really – isn’t it?
In fact I’ll further that by saying it’s a f***ing insult to the intelligence of an amoeba to even venture to use that as an excuse; so I suppose really that may at least got something right in getting rid of the pathological liar nick timothy, because if he was still her advisor, and he came out with that complete cack…
I pity those what still think may’s nothing to answer for. Deluded, brainless oafs.
It has been proved time and time again,everything she and her party say, is a Fkn lie.
I hear the ‘nudge’ unit has been at it again and now refer to the “hostile environment” as the rather Orwellian “compliant environment” . I’m really not sure which is worse, at least the original description had the virtue of being accurate whilst the new version sounds like something the Chinese State would dream up.
Yeah and when they privatise the police force it’ll be called
“G4S Compliance Force” (part of the Conservative and Unionist Group of Companies)
Fuckers.
It looks like the Tories have already started going down that slippery slope.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4927688/Private-firms-given-powers-arrest-people.html
Haha! ‘COULD be given powers of arrest’.
The amount of scruffy g4s clowns that’ll be getting put on their arses when they threaten people with arrest for not allowing them to check the electric meter (And take note of whether the occupant has a Tv and is on the TVL database by the way, because that’s what they do) will go through the roof.
What then? ARM g4s? Not even the illuminati or whoever are THAT brave to ‘authorise’ that…
The Toffee – “Haha! ‘COULD be given powers of arrest’.”
You can mock all you want but it appears to be much closer than you think
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/carillion-ministry-of-justice-g4s-arrest-warrant-300m-review-privatisation-contract-court-fines-a8168561.html
A £300m state contract to pay private firms to arrest people for not settling court fines must urgently be reviewed in the wake of Carillion’s collapse, MPs on an influential committee have said.
@SteveH
Youtube’s your friend for this. Loads of clips of bailiffs & CEO’s getting laughed at with the ‘powers’ they (think they) have now.
Selling off powers of arrest won’t change much. Bailiffs & CEO’s already have them. I’ve got powers of arrest – as do you. It’s an inalienable and imprescriptible right of every citizen.
And if the old bill can’t find their own arses with both hands and a torch, what makes you think some commission-based minimum-wage-plus-commission-based, unarmed g4s whopper’s gonna round up all these villains – Villains that are wiser in lawful matters than most solicitors?
What’ll happen is, at the first snifter of trouble g4s plod will end up calling proper honest-to-god plod to assist them….and even then they might not get their man.
And it’ll all cost g4s resources, time AND money.
The Toffee – I’ve tried several times, without success to post a link to the MoJ Tender Documents. If you are interested then paste the search term “ministry of justice tender for approved enforcement agency services” into Google
As in the Shaggy song ‘It wasn’t me’.
Pull the other one.
Richard Dennis
This article about a legal aid immigration lawyer is a long read but gives a shocking insight into the dystopian world of the Home Office
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2016/apr/14/the-lawyer-who-takes-the-cases-no-one-wants