Last week, I wrote about the appalling Tory plan to deport millions of legally settled people.

This plan involved cancelling the Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) of people who are not UK Citizens if they were (among other things) living in a council house, not earning more than £38,700, or had a disabled dependent receiving State benefits. As Shadow Home Office Minister, Katie Lam, said at the time, this policy would target “a mostly, but not entirely, culturally coherent group of people.”

It seems this may have been a step too far even for the Tories. The Guardian reports that a number of Tory MPs have raised serious concerns with their whips, with one anonymous MP suggesting that:

it looks like she’s [Katie Lam] now trying to take his [Robert Jenrick’s] spot on the hard right of the party.

Responding to the growing internal and external backlash, Kemi Badenoch has now indicated that the Tories will not pursue this. It won’t be retrospective and she said Ms Lam had spoken ‘imprecisely.’

Max Wilkinson MP, Lib Dem Home Affairs Spokesperson, said:

Katie Lam’s divisive comments will have caused angst for families worried about being broken apart. Kemi Badenoch should sack her from the Conservative front bench to send a clear signal that this was not her party’s policy and restore order to her ranks.

The policy itself may be dropped – and let’s be clear, it’s good when politicians drop awful policies, but the fact that it was ever seriously considered demonstrates exactly where the party’s moral compass now points. The question for any voter is not whether the policy was retracted, but whether they can trust a party that, in its bid for power, was willing to trade the stability and rights of millions of people for cheap, divisive political advantage. The answer, for anyone who still values basic human decency, remains exactly as the title suggests.

* Simon McGrath is a Councillor in Wimbledon and is a member of the Federal Policy Committee and Federal Council.