Home secretary Priti Patel has claimed she has “a lot of compassion” and “cares deeply about people” as she defended her department’s handling of a series of controversies.
The Home Office has come under fire over the Windrush scandal and its “hostile environment” policy aimed at increasing the removal of asylum seekers and foreign-born criminals.
But Ms Patel rejected the idea of an uncaring department, saying: “It’s an incredible organisation, it really is.”
Speaking to The House magazine ahead of the Conservative Party’s conference in Manchester, the cabinet minister said she did not “relate” to the idea of a hostile Home Office.
“For people that know me, they know that I care deeply about people and I have a lot of compassion,” Ms Patel said – before claiming she “always put names and faces first”.
The home secretary said: “I would mention Windrush, the work that I have led in terms of Windrush compensation, overhauling the scheme, setting up stakeholder groups, putting people first, treating people and thinking of people rather than just cases.”
Ms Patel added: “For too long this has been a case-working organisation, and I always put names and faces first.”
Around £1.5m was paid out to victims of the Windrush scandal, which saw Britons classed as illegal immigrants, the latest figures show. But two of the victims last month launched legal proceedings over delays in receiving their compensation.
The Home Office spent more than £370,000 to settle a top civil servant’s tribunal claim after he quit amid allegations of bulling by Ms Patel.
Former permanent secretary Sir Philip Rutnam accepted the six-figure sum earlier this year after launching legal action against the home secretary and accusing her of a “vicious and orchestrated” briefing campaign against him.
Ms Patel has also come under fire over the deportation of foreign-born criminals, described by human rights groups as “inhumane”, and the housing of asylum seekers in ex-Army barracks found not to be suitable for human habitation by Public Health England.
Ms Patel defended giving £54m to France to support its coastal patrols in a bid to reduce the number of migrant boats coming across the English Channel.
“There is no such thing about money for nothing. Let me be very clear about that,” the minister said, adding that she still had a “constructive working relationship” with her French counterpart despite “honest” conversations.
The home secretary also defended the UK Nationality and Borders Bill, currently moving through the Commons, which aims to rapidly remove asylum seekers who come to Britain via “illegal” routes.
Asked if the Home Office is still considering a plan to push back migrant boats towards France, Ms Patel said: “Everything we do is legal and within the law.
“I rule nothing out in terms of stopping the boats and saving lives, because by the time people are in the water, their lives are at risk.”
The home secretary could not say whether the first group of Afghans refugees coming to the UK through the government’s resettlement scheme after fleeing Taliban would be given a home before Christmas.
Challenged on whether some Afghans will still be in hotels by Christmas, she said: “I don’t know – it’s for local government. It’s for them to work with the resettlement team to bring that together.”
On Friday Ms Patel boasted about ending the use of “insecure” ID cards for entry into the UK, as EU, EEA and Swiss citizens now need to show their passports.
Despite the growing alarm over the shortage of drivers and food sector workers, she tweeted that the move would help “deliver on the people’s priority to take back control of our immigration system”.
The full interview with Ms Patel runs in The House magazine’s Conservative Party conference special, available from 3 October.
