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Sajid Javid has made his debut in Parliament as the new home secretary following the resignation of Amber Rudd.
As he arrived at the Home Office to take up new his job earlier in the day, Mr Javid vowed to make sure people caught up in the Windrush scandal are treated with “decency and fairness”.
Ms Rudd became the fifth departure from the cabinet since last year’s snap general election after admitting she had “inadvertently” misled MPs over the existence of targets for removing illegal immigrants.
The MP for Hastings and Rye stepped down on Sunday evening, a day before she was due to make a statement in the House of Commons on the targets and illegal migration, as she faced increasing pressure over the handling of the Windrush fiasco.
Windrush generation: threat of deportation from UK
Responding to the Lord's vote, Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer says:
“This is a hugely significant moment in the fight to ensure Parliament has a proper role in the Brexit negotiations and that we avoid a no deal situation.
“Labour won the argument at the end of last year for Parliament to be given a meaningful vote on the terms of our withdrawal from the EU. And we are clear that it must be just that: a meaningful vote.
“If Parliament votes down the Article 50 deal, then Parliament must decide what happens next. Under no circumstances can the Prime Minister be given a blank cheque to crash the UK out of the EU without a deal.
“I would urge the Prime Minister to accept this cross-party amendment and recognise that there is no majority in Parliament or the country for a no deal Brexit.”
Speaking after the vote, Minister for Exiting the EU, Lord Callanan said: “We are disappointed that the House of Lords has voted for this amendment in spite of the assurances we have provided.
“What this amendment would do is weaken the UK's hand in our negotiations with the EU 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.
"It is absolutely right that Parliament is able to scrutinise the final deal, and that is why we have already committed to giving both Houses a vote on the final deal.
“We will now consider the implications of the House of Lords’ decision.”
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