Number 10 lobby briefing on Amber Rudd and Brexit
3 min read
Here is a summary of this morning's briefing for lobby journalists by the Prime Minister's official spokesman.
AMBER RUDD
On the resignation of Home Secretary Amber Rudd, the spokesman said: "The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary spoke yesterday and the Home Secretary made the Prime Minister aware of her intention to resign. She set out the reasons in her letter for reaching that conclusion. She said that since appearing before the select committee, she had reviewed the advice that she was given on the issue and become aware of information provided to her office in the Home Office which makes mention of targets. The Home Secretary said 'I should have been aware of this and I take responsibility for the fact that I was not'."
He added: "The Prime Minister spoke to the new Home Secretary this morning by telephone. The Home Secretary was delighted by his appointment.
"Sajid Javid is one of the most experienced ministers around the Cabinet table. At housing he has proved his drive, his ambition and his determination to get to grips with difficult subjects and these are abilities which will all be required at the Home Office."
On whether the Home Office had deportation targets when Theresa May was in charge of the department, the spokesman said: "The Prime Minister was aware of targets when she was Home Secretary. There had been targets in place for a number of decades in relation to a suceesion of Home Secretaries who had set a priority for tackling illegal immigration and ensuring the UK's immigration rules are properly enforced. Decisons on how to measure performance were taken by officials and included the setting of performance metrics, including targets. But once the PM ceased being Home Secretary, she would not have received any operational detail of that kind."
BREXIT
On an amendment to the EU Withdrawal Bill being voted on later which would give parliament the power to direct ministers on what to do if the Commons rejects Theresa May's final Brexit deal, the spokesman said: "The Withdrawal Bill is about ensuring we leave the EU in a smooth and orderly manner. It's not a mechanism for overturning the referendum.
"What this amendment would do is weaken the UK's hand in the Brexit negotiations by giving Parliament unprecedented powers to instruct the Government to do anything with regard to the negotiations, including trying to keep the UK in the EU indefinitely. Fundamentally, the British people voted to leave the EU and the Government is delivering on that. It is simply not right that Parliament could overturn this. It is absolutely right that Parliament is able to scrutinise the final deal. That is why we've already committed to giving both houses a vote on the final deal."
On reports that David Davis wants top civil Olly Robbins to be sacked as the Prime Minister's top Brexit adviser, the spokesman said: "The Prime Minister has the highest regard for our hardworking civil servants and has been clear that they are working with the Government to get the best possible deal for Brexit for the British people."
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