Theresa May has admitted responsibility for treating victims of the Windrush scandal

A new ITV documentary looks at Theresa May's reign. Photo: Rachel Adams/Rachel Adams

Theresa May has admitted she is ultimately responsible for the Windrush scandal, which saw more than 80 people wrongly deported despite having lived in Britain for decades.

In an ITV documentary, the former prime minister admitted the Home Office had failed. anticipate the impact of its “hostile” environment on the Windrush generation who first came to Britain in 1948.

“Should we at the Home Office have made more sense in trying to determine whether there were other people, people who were going to fall into such a trap? I don't believe this question has ever been asked. And that’s what lies at the heart of the problems,” she said.

Asked if she was Home Secretary at the time, she replied: “I was. And as Minister of the Interior you take responsibility.”

The scandal erupted in 2018 when it emerged that the Home Office was not keeping records of people from the Windrush generation who had been granted leave to remain and had not been given the documents needed to prove their status.

In 2010 they also boarding passes belonging to Windrush migrants were destroyed. The victims were unable to prove that they were in the country legally and were denied access to healthcare, work and housing.

Many also faced deportation. A review of historical cases also found that at least 83 people who arrived before 1973 were deported in error.

Ms May apologized for the scandal and an investigation found it was “foreseeable and avoidable” ” He criticized the “culture of disbelief and carelessness” at the Home Office.

The documentary, titled Theresa May: The Accidental Prime Minister, also features interviews with politicians from around the world who suggested that she was in the wrong job at the wrong time.

This month she announced she was stepping down as an MP at the polls.

Damian Green, her de facto deputy prime minister -minister and leader of the United Party National Center group of MPs said she would have been better suited to lead the UK through Covid and suggested she and Boris should have swapped roles.