The country has breathed a collective sigh of relief as Theresa May has finally set out a timetable for her resignation. While no one can say that this was unexpected, Theresa May’s emotional speech did win her sympathy from commentators, politicians and political pundits.
It is clearly hard to bear witness to the downfall of a leader who has faced three years on the most divisive issue of our time, has had some excruciatingly embarrassing moments and will be held responsible for nearly tearing the Conservative party in two. But I will not waste sympathy on a prime minister who failed to shed a single tear in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, who has never expressed regret over the huge number of children living in poverty under her watch, and has vilified migrants. It’s telling that the only emotion that Theresa May has shown in public has been for herself.
Both migrants and people of colour know that her true legacy started long before the chaos of Brexit, when she became home secretary in 2010. In a world where politicians seem to have few principles, Theresa May has always had at least one – to make life as difficult as possible for migrants. Policies which deliberately create hostility are now embedded in our cultural fabric and will persist long after she retakes her seat on the backbenches.
The ‘hostile environment’, which May introduced in 2012, is a set of policies that bar migrants’ access to basic public services like healthcare, housing and employment and force ordinary citizens to become border guards. The ‘hostile environment’ also gives the government Big Brother-like powers to access personal data and pass it to the Home Office for the purposes of immigration enforcement.
But the obsession with migrants doesn’t stop there. She oversaw the introduction of the minimum income requirement which separates British citizens from their families, was responsible for the disgraceful “go home” vans, has left refugee children stranded in Calais and regularly deports people to countries where their lives are at risk. Under her watch has the Home Office has become a Jenga of bureaucracy – and under every layer lies clear violations in human rights.
The Windrush scandal starkly highlighted the impact of the hostile environment on migrants and people of colour. Despite Sajid Javid’s protests that what happened to the Windrush generation was simply an unintended consequence, it’s abundantly clear that this is exactly what the policies look like in practice. Earlier this year, JCWI sued the government over a key plank of the hostile environment – the right to rent. The High Court agreed that the policy directly causes racial discrimination in the housing market and concluded that there is no way it can be reformed. It simply does not work. But instead of scrapping the policy, the government has doubled down, arguing that they should be allowed to cause racial discrimination in pursuit of the hostile environment. Clearly, this government thinks that racial discrimination is a price worth paying in pursuit of its ideological goals.
There is a clear line to be drawn between the insidious culture of hostility designed by Theresa May and the rise of the far-right, whose violent messages have gone largely unchallenged. We didn’t get here – to Brexit and to a sharp rise in hate crime – by accident. Politicians from across the spectrum have bought into Theresa May’s anti-migrant narrative and have used every legislative opportunity to demonise migrants, with a resounding impact on people of colour.
Politicians now have an opportunity to repeal draconian legislation which is clearly recognisable as Theresa May’s brand. The next Conservative leader will inherit the same set of problems that Theresa May faced – and Conservative politicians are shrewd enough to recognise that they must make a break from her toxic legacy if they are to unite their party and get any movement on Brexit. Without Theresa May at its head, there is an opportunity for politicians from across the political spectrum to make a clear stand for migrants’ rights and cleanse themselves of policies which do not work, and which divide our communities.