Home secretary Amber Rudd is under fire to resign after being forced to apologise in the House of Commons for the fourth time in two weeks, after being accused of lying to parliament about immigration targets.
The minister yesterday told MPs there were no removal targets for immigrants set by the Home Office, adding: "I don't know what you are talking about," when challenged on the point by Home Affairs Committee chair Yvette Cooper.
This morning she was hauled into the Commons to explain that while "the immigration arm of the Home Office has been using local targets for internal performance management", they were not her doing.
Rudd said: "I have never agreed that there should be specific removal targets and I would never support a policy that puts targets ahead of people.
The targets that have been referred to "were not published targets against which performance was assessed, but if they were used inappropriately then I am clear that this will have to change," she added.
"I have asked officials to provide me with a full picture of performance measurement tools which are used at all levels, and will update the House and the Home Affairs committee as soon as possible.
But Rudd's response has been met with calls for her resignation.
Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said: "When Lord Carrington resigned over the Falklands, he said it was a matter of honour. Isnt it time that the home secretary considered her honour and resigned?"
Labour MP David Lammy – who tweeted this morning that he believed she had lied to parliament – listed Rudd's recent admissions that she did not know what was happening in her department, adding: "I say this with all conscience – is she really the right person to leave this office of state?
Quoting Theresa May, when in opposition had said she was "sick and tired of ministers not taking responsibility", Lammy's colleague Paula Sherriff asked if Rudd would "do the decent thing and resign?"
This was echoed by the SNPs Alison Thewliss.
However, a Number 10 spokesman said the Prime Minister still had full confidence in her home secretary, and went on to present a list of removal targets introduced under Labour, to demonstrate the concept "goes back a number of decades".
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