Britain’s May Names New Minister to End Immigration Scandal

  • UK government defeated as Lords back powers to block or change EU exit deal

British Prime Minister Theresa May appointed a former banker of South Asian origin as interior minister on Monday, trying to draw a line under an immigration scandal threatening her authority as she negotiates Brexit, Reuters reported
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Sajid Javid, the son of immigrants from Pakistan, replaces Amber Rudd, who quit as Home Secretary after acknowledging she had “inadvertently misled” parliament by denying the government had targets for the number of illegal migrants Britain deports.

British ministers have struggled for two weeks to explain why some descendants of the so-called “Windrush generation”, invited to Britain from its former colonies to plug labor shortfalls between 1948 and 1971, were denied basic rights.

Also, Britain’s House of Lords voted on Monday to give parliament powers to block or delay the final deal on the country’s departure from the European Union, defeating Prime Minister May’s government, Reuters reported.

Lords, who sit in parliament’s upper chamber, voted 335 to 244 in favor of an amendment that could allow parliament to send Britain back to the negotiating table in Brussels or even halt the Brexit process.

The amendment is opposed by the government and can be overturned in parliament’s lower chamber, where May has a slim majority.

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