UK Labour Leader Calls May's Migration Policy 'Cynical'

UK Prime Minister Theresa May's migration policy is "cynical" and has led to the rise of right-wing sentiments in society, UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Wednesday at the 2018 party conference in Liverpool.

LONDON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th September, 2018) UK Prime Minister Theresa May's migration policy is "cynical" and has led to the rise of right-wing sentiments in society, UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said on Wednesday at the 2018 party conference in Liverpool.

"We can never become complacent about the scourge of racism. Race hate is a growing threat that has to be confronted. Not just here in Britain, but across Europe and the United States. The far right is on the rise, blaming minorities, Jews, Muslims and migrants, for the failures of a broken economic system ... The 'hostile environment' policies - shameful brainchild of the present Prime Minister - led to the scandal of British citizens being deported, detained and left destitute. That is nasty, cynical politics that demeans our country," Corbyn said in a speech published by the party.

According to Corbyn, the UK government behaved in a victimizing way in dealing with the so-called Windrush migrants.

"Its victims include the Windrush generation who helped rebuild Britain after the war and were thrown under the bus by a Government that reckoned there were votes to be had by pandering to prejudice," Corbyn added.

UK former Home Secretary Amber Rudd has recently been at the heart of the so-called Windrush scandal concerning the mistreatment of long-term UK residents which resulted in her resignation in April amid the pressure exerted on the secretary by the country's opposition and the general public.

The term "Windrush generation" relates to migrants who came to the United Kingdom from Caribbean countries between the 1940s and 1970s to fill the labor resource gap in the country. The term relates to the name of the first ship, carrying the Caribbeans � Empire Windrush � that arrived in London in June 1948.

The scandal emerged soon after it was learned that some representatives of the Windrush generation or their relatives had been declared illegal migrants due to the absence of official papers confirming their status. The tensions grew further when media published Rudd's letter to May of 2017, in which the home secretary informed the prime minister of her intention to increase deportation targets by 10 percent. This came just days after Rudd denied that her office had targets for migrants removals.