THERESA May laid the blame for the Windrush scandal at Labour’s feet yesterday as Jeremy Corbyn accused her of making the Home Office “heartless”.

The Prime Minister denied she was responsible for the immigration row which has seen some older Britons denied access to the NHS, cost others their jobs and landed more in detention centres.

On Tuesday it emerged that the landing cards belonging to Windrush arrivals had been destroyed by the Home Office in 2010 – while May was Home Secretary.

But in the House of Commons, May said the decision to trash the documents – which would have provided some evidence for people ordered to prove their right to live in the UK – had been taken under the last Labour government in 2009.

In a heated exchange, Corbyn insisted May, who led the Home Office until 2016, should take responsibility for shredding the slips and creating a “hostile environment” for migrants in pursuit of lower immigration targets.

He said: “It led to British citizens being denied NHS treatment, losing their jobs, homes and pensions, thrown into detention centres like criminals and even deported.

“Isn’t it the truth, Mr Speaker, that under her the Home Office became heartless and hopeless and does she not now run a government that is both callous and incompetent?”

Hitting back, May said: “I will not take an accusation of ‘callous’ from a man who allows anti-Semitism to run rife in his party.”

Beginning Prime Minister’s Questions, May offered a fresh apology to those caught up in the scandal, which has affected the children of Commonwealth citizens who came to the UK during the post-war reconstruction period.

She said: “These people are British, they are part of us. I want to be absolutely clear that we have no intention of asking anyone to leave who has a right to remain here.

“For those who have mistakenly received letters challenging them, I want to apologise to them.”

On the landing cards, former Labour Home Secretary Jacqui Smith told the BBC destroying the landing cards was “not a policy decision” she had made.

Her successor Alan Johnson, who took the role in June 2009, also said he had “absolutely no recollection at all” of involvement in that decision.

A Downing Street spokesperson said it was carried out as part of an “operation decision” made by UK Border Force in order to comply with data protection rules.

And the Home Office said the cards did not provide proof of continuous residence in the UK, claiming education and employment records are better alternatives.

Earlier in the day, Labour’s Diane Abbot had called on current Home Secretary Amber Rudd to reconsider her position.

However, May said the cabinet minister had acted “swiftly”.

The row has played out as leaders from 52 Commonwealth countries attended talks in London.

Despite the admission by Immigration Minister Caroline Nokes on Monday that some people may have been deported “in error”, May yesterday insisted there was no evidence of any specific cases.

Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness said: “My interest is to ensure that the Windrush generation and the children of the Windrush generation get justice.

“We have to call it out for what it is, but we also have to ensure that those who have been deported, that they get access to a process that gets them back, that they get their citizenship, that they get their full rights and that they get access to the benefits that their citizenship will entitle them.”

He added: “My view is that if there is an acceptance that a wrong was done then there should be a process of restoration.

“And I’m certain that the very strong and robust civil society and democracy that you have will come up with a process of compensation.”

Speaking about her experience, Glenda Caesar, who arrived in England as a six-month-old and had a career in the NHS, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain she had lost work as a result of questions about her status.

She said: “It hurts me because I am a mother of four British children.

“So why am I not British? What did I do wrong? I didn’t do anything wrong. It is not my mistake.”

Nick Broderick, whose brother served in the British Army, said he had considered suicide after being told he was “definitely” going to be deported.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “That sent me into a spiral of depression which I’m only just coming out of. I’m still not allowed to go to the hospital, or the doctor’s surgery or get a bus pass.”