Amber Rudd, the MP for Hastings and Rye who resigned her Cabinet position last month over issues connected to the Windrush scandal, recently answered questions on a range of subjects at independent Benenden School.
In the packed school theatre on May 18, Ms Rudd spoke on a number of subjects, including Jeremy Corbyn, the 2017 general election, Brexit, the role of women in politics and the Home Office’s handling of the Windrush generation.
Asked by a Sixth Form pupil if, in hindsight, she would have acted differently over Windrush, she said: ‘Yes, and that’s why I resigned. I thought the fact we hadn’t seen at the Home Office there was a cohort of people who should have been given much more assistance to get their citizenship papers in order – and instead were treated as individuals and weren’t recognised as a group that needed particular help – was a mistake, and I think we should have seen that. I think it had been going on for quite a long time.’
She added: ‘It was quite rightly referred to as a national scandal, and the Home Office should have picked up on it much earlier.’
Asked whether she expected to return to the Cabinet [at some point in the future], Ms Rudd said: ‘I hope that I might be considered in the future, but you know what, it’s summer, I’ve got a little time on my hands, that’s no bad thing: I get to know my friends and family a little bit.’
Benenden Headmistress Samantha Price said: ‘A lot of what Amber Rudd spoke about really resonated with the pupils. She answered their questions with candour and spoke strongly about issues they talk about, such as resilience, career decisions, young people in politics and the role of women in the workplace.
‘It was a pleasure to welcome her to Benenden, and the pupils gained an enormous amount
from hearing from a speaker with such a high public profile.’
Ms Rudd said of the evening: ‘It was a delight to have the opportunity to listen to some wonderful questions and comments, and to hear their views and to give them some of my own.’
