A defiant Amber Rudd was clinging on as Home Secretary on Friday night after she denied seeing a leaked memo, sent to her last year, confirming the department’s use of deportation targets.

In a series of tweets posted after hours of speculation that she might be about to resign, the embattled Cabinet minister vowed to make a statement in the House of Commons on Monday about the Windrush scandal and targets for removing illegal migrants. She also apologised for not being aware of the targets.

It came after she told a committee of MPs this week that her department did not set targets for voluntary deportations of people who were living in the UK without permission, before admitting just a day later that such targets did exist, without her knowledge. Ms Rudd later added that no new targets would be approved.