British home secretary resigned amid Windrush scandal

Britain’s interior minister, Amber Rudd, has resigned as home secretary, saying she “inadvertently midled” MPs over targets for removing illegal immigrants.

The move comes after Prime Minister Theresa May’s government faced an outpouring od indignation over its treatment of some long-term Caribbean residents who were wrongly labeled as illegal immigrants.

The Windrush scandal had heaped pressure on Rudd, who faced criticism over whether she knew about Home Office removals targets.

In her resignation letter, Rudd said that she misled a parliamentary committee last week by denying the government had targets for deportation.

Rudd said she takes "full responsibility" for the fact she was not aware of "information provided to (her) office which makes mention of targets".

Prime Minister Theresa May said she was "very sorry" to see Rudd leave.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott, who had repeatedly urged Rudd to go, said she had "done the right thing".

On Sunday, the Guardian published the full letter it had reported on a week earlier, in which Rudd set out her "ambitious but deliverable" aim to deport 10% more illegal immigrants over the "next few years" to Theresa May.

The Windrush row began when it emerged that some migrants from Commonwealth countries, who settled in the UK from the late 1940s to the 1970s, and their relatives, had been declared illegal immigrants.

Rudd's successor is expected to be announced early on Monday morning.

She is the fifth person to resign from the Cabinet since last year's general election - following Sir Michael Fallon, Priti Patel, Damian Green and James Brokenshire.