Being Home Secretary is the best job in Government — but it’s full of political risk
FOLLOWING Amber Rudd’s resignation, Sajid Javid fully understands the dangers of his new job.
Like other departments, the Home Office makes laws and policies, but unusually its officials take countless sensitive decisions about visas, citizenship, deportations and more. This is where the political risk lies.
The new Home Secretary has rightly promised to address the Windrush scandal. This has seen people with every right to be here treated as illegal immigrants by employers, landlords and the state because they lack the right papers.
As the son of immigrant parents, Javid could have been affected by the scandal himself.
He needs to show his human side and fix the problem quickly.
But he must not overreact. Lefties are using Windrush to attack the “hostile environment” policies that tackle illegal immigration.
Javid should defend the approach robustly: it should be difficult for illegal immigrants to rent property, get a job and open bank accounts.
If anything, Javid must toughen up Britain’s defences against illegal immigration.
And he needs to develop a comprehensive policy to control legal immigration too.
Britain needs migrants with the talent and skills who will benefit our economy, but annual net migration — which is the number of people coming here minus those leaving each year — is still running at a quarter of a million.
That number must come down. And a post-Brexit immigration policy, which allows us to control European immigration, is an urgent priority.
So too is tackling crime. Overall, crime is still lower than at any time on record. But violent crime is rising and knife crime is a problem, especially in London.
Politicians should not interfere with day-to-day policing, and political responsibility for policing in London lies with the mayor, Sadiq Khan. But Javid needs to ensure the police have the powers they need to keep us safe.
All this needs to be done while we face a grave terror threat. This is the invisible part of Javid’s new job.
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He will work closely with MI5’s chief, Andrew Parker, and sign piles of warrants every day that allow the police and spooks to track organised criminals and terrorists using covert surveillance.
Tackling the extremism behind the violence is also vital: as a Muslim, Javid has shown already he has the confidence to do that.
His workload will be immense, his responsibilities awesome, and 24-hour police protection will feel strange for a while.
But Javid has landed one of the best jobs in government — the hard work starts here.