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  1. Politics
4 October 2011

Theresa May’s cat story unravels

Home Secretary falsely claimed that illegal immigrant was allowed to stay because of his pet cat.

By George Eaton

Theresa May alarmed Tory delegates earlier today when she claimed that the Human Rights Act prevented the deportation of an illegal immigrant because he had a pet cat. She told the hall:

We all know the stories about the Human Rights Act. The violent drug dealer who cannot be sent home because his daughter – for whom he pays no maintenance – lives here. The robber who cannot be removed because he has a girlfriend. The illegal immigrant who cannot be deported because – and I am not making this up – he had pet a cat.

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But her story has since unravelled faster than the British economy. Shortly after her speech, the Judicial Office intervened and said the entire claim was a myth. A spokesperson said: “This was a case in which the Home Office conceded that they had mistakenly failed to apply their own policy – applying at that time to that appellant – for dealing with unmarried partners of people settled in the UK. That was the basis for the decision to uphold the original tribunal decision – the cat had nothing to do with the decision.” (See David Allen Green’s post for more of the legal details.)

For good measure, Ken Clarke popped up at a Telegraph fringe event and said that no one had ever avoided being deported for owning a cat. “I will have a small wager [with May],” he added. It looks like it’s the Home Secretary who will be left out of pocket.

Update: May has promised that she “will look at it again”. She told Sky News’s Adam Boulton: “Of course everything that went into my speech was checked. I gather that there has been some question now from a spokesman questioning that and of course I will look at it again.”

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