• Emma Haddad joins Amnesty International U.K., intensifying tensions between Conservative ministers and senior officials.
• Home Office source claims Ms. Haddad was “hostile” to the Government’s agenda on asylum.
• Poll suggests a backlash brewing among pro-Leave voters, heightening concerns about the “revolving door” between Whitehall and organisations.
Emma Haddad has been appointed by Amnesty International U.K. as a senior official, following her role as Director General for Asylum at the Home Office. Her appointment has caused tension between Conservative ministers and senior officials, as Haddad was viewed as an obstacle to the Government’s strict immigration policies.
A senior Tory commented on the appointment, claiming it showed the institutional challenges the Government had to face. Sources have described Haddad as “very difficult” and “hostile” to the Government’s agenda on asylum.
In response, Haddad stated that civil servants must abide by the Civil Service code and the core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality. A poll by Public First found that almost half of pro-Leave voters who voted for the Conservatives in 2019 believe the Government is not trying hard enough to deal with asylum and immigration.
Haddad’s move to Amnesty has increased concerns about the “revolving door” between Whitehall and organisations that seek to influence Government policies. The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments has banned Haddad from lobbying the Government for two years.
During Dame Priti Patel’s stint as Home Secretary, many officials voiced their opposition to the Government’s Rwanda asylum deal and threatened to strike over the issue. In March, mandarins complained after an email in Suella Braverman’s name to Conservative members blaming an “activist blob of Left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party” for blocking Government plans.
Two blank lines
Emma Haddad, former Home Office Director General for Asylum, has joined the human rights charity Amnesty International U.K. Haddad was previously viewed as a roadblock to the Government’s strict immigration policies – policies that Amnesty has openly criticised as “inhumane, racist and divisive”. The Telegraph has more.
Emma Haddad, who was the Home Office’s Director General for Asylum until October 2022, will help to oversee Amnesty International U.K., which has been campaigning against the Government’s attempts to halt Channel crossings and deport migrants to Rwanda.
Ms. Haddad’s appointment will intensify tensions between Conservative ministers and senior officials. A senior Tory said: “This demonstrates the extent of the institutional hurdles that we have been up against.”
One source described Ms. Haddad as “very difficult” and the “chief blocker” of ministers’ policies during her time at the Home Office. A Home Office source claimed that, during her time at the top of the department, the senior civil servant was “hostile” to the Government’s agenda on asylum, including a plan to move migrants out of taxpayer-funded hotel rooms and into large-scale accommodation.
The Home Office source said that Ms. Haddad also oversaw the introduction of “lenient” guidance in which asylum caseworkers were told they could not reject the testimony of a migrant caught lying.
Sources cited her move to Amnesty as evidence that Ms. Haddad was politically opposed to Conservative policies on asylum and immigration.
Responding to the claims, Ms. Haddad said: “As with any civil servant, my job was to serve the government of the day. All civil servants must abide by the Civil Service code and uphold the Civil Service’s core values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality.”
The row came as a poll by Public First found that almost half of pro-Leave voters who backed the Conservatives in 2019 believe the Government is not trying hard enough to deal with asylum and immigration.
The survey highlights a potential backlash brewing among the primary group of voters that Mr. Sunak had set out to win over with his pledge to stop illegal Channel crossings.
Ms. Haddad’s move to Amnesty will also heighten concerns about the “revolving door” between Whitehall and organisations that seek to influence Government policies.
The Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, which vets jobs taken by former senior officials, said the Home Office acknowledged that Ms. Haddad’s knowledge of the department’s “strategic thinking” on asylum and immigration would improve Amnesty’s “effectiveness as a lobbying organisation”.
It has banned Ms. Haddad from lobbying the Government for two years, and added: “Ms. Haddad has confirmed she will not have contact with the Government in this role and is inwardly focused.”
During Dame Priti Patel’s stint as Home Secretary, which ended in September 2022, scores of officials voiced their opposition to the Government’s Rwanda asylum deal on an internal Home Office online noticeboard – with some threatening to strike over the issue.
In March, mandarins complained after an email in Suella Braverman’s name to Conservative members blamed an “activist blob of Left-wing lawyers, civil servants and the Labour Party” for blocking the Government’s plans to stop small boats carrying migrants across the Channel.
