Rudd-erless May vulnerable

Amber Rudd’s resignation over what she herself described as “the Windrush scandal” became inevitable as the evidence mounted remorselessly against her.

And now the pundits are asking whether this sorry story could trigger the prospects for an early general election, possibly in the autumn.

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell has spoken about the odour of a

decomposing Government.

This event has highlighted the inability of the Government to handle an internal problem – the way they did tackle it was

shambolic, to say the least.

But worse than that, the unwelcome spotlight is now trained on Theresa May herself.

Opposition MPs are now demanding she makes a Commons statement on her role in this whole affair when she was Home Secretary.

The departure of Rudd, the Prime Minister’s protection shield, has made Mrs May more vulnerable than ever.

The Government’s campaign to protect Rudd before she resigned was laughably ridiculous.

Fellow ministers who were wheeled out one by one to say what a brilliant Minister Rudd was sounded insincere and without conviction.

Everyone could see through that.

And the statement from Downing Street that the Prime Minister had full confidence in her now looks like a blatant untruth.

Rudd’s claim that she was unaware of targets set for the deportation of illegal immigrants merely served to demonstrate that she had lost control of the Home

Office and did not know what went on – inexcusable.

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has to pick up the fallout and has named Sajid Javid as the replacement for Rudd.

A Remainer like Rudd, it may maintain the delicate Cabinet balance between

Remainers and Brexiteers, but the Government is now beginning to look in serious disarray.

Meanwhile, Labour smell blood. Having helped to

depose of Rudd, they are now setting their sights on the prize scalp of all: The Prime Minister herself.

In short, her Government is in dire trouble.