'Fundamental reset' for Windrush scandal victims as new funding announced
Victims of the Windrush scandal will receive better support to apply for compensation through a £1.5 million fund. It comes as the Home Secretary outlines a “fundamental reset” for the Windrush generation.
Today, the Home Secretary revealed the initial steps the new Labour government is taking to ensure justice is finally served for victims of the wrongdoing. Yvette Cooper has pledged to work more closely with affected communities and appoint a new Windrush Commissioner to hold the government accountable for implementing the recommendations in the Wendy Williams Lessons Learned Review.
The commissioner will serve as a trusted voice for victims and Windrush communities, advocating improvements and lasting change. In a written statement, Ms Cooper released details of the government grant funding, which will enhance advocacy support for victims applying to the Windrush Compensation Scheme.
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She said: “The Windrush scandal caused terrible pain and heartache for so many families in the Windrush generation and in wider Commonwealth communities. It is rightly recognised as a period of national shame."
Shortly after assuming office, the Home Secretary reinstated the Windrush Unit within the Home Office, tasked with overseeing the department's response to the scandal and instilling lasting cultural change. The unit was disbanded under the former government in July 2023.
These measures coincide with the Ms Cooper chairing a roundtable discussion with key stakeholders later today, Thursday, October 24. Ms Cooper added that the distress felt by many because of the scandal was exacerbated for those who haven’t received the compensation and justice they are owed.
Ms Cooper also emphasised the government's new approach would help ensure a scandal of this kind would never happen again and that dignity would be restored to those so tragically affected.
She said: “The Windrush generation has been let down, and we are committed to a fundamental reset of the response to this scandal. The government is determined to hear first-hand from the Windrush generation, their families and wider commonwealth communities to ensure that their experiences are listened to and learned from.”
What is the Windrush Scandal?
The 'Windrush generation' refers to a group of people from the Caribbean who arrived in the UK between 1948 and 1971 - starting with the arrival of the ship HMT Empire Windrush.
This group came to the UK after the Second World War - many of them having served in the British armed forces - when they were invited to emigrate by the UK government to help ‘rebuild Britain’.
According to the National Archives, 1,027 people were on board HMT Empire Windrush - 800 of whom gave their last country of residence as somewhere in the Caribbean. However, it's important to note that 65 countries are affected, and this is not just a Caribbean scandal.
In particular, the Windrush generation was asked to come to Britain and address post-war labour shortages as the country invested in huge infrastructure projects and public services. They had a vital role in the success of the NHS and are credited with helping it become one of the most respected healthcare systems in the world.
However, after the 'honeymoon' of the post-war boom began to subside, the introduction of numerous ‘divisive’ immigration policies meant the Windrush generation was suddenly in the ‘firing line’ - their status, once secure, was now under the microscope.
As there was a direct invitation from the UK government, children travelled from the Caribbean on their parents' passports and never imagined a day when they would be asked to prove their legal right to reside in the UK.
When the Immigration, Asylum, and Nationality Act 2006 was passed, it resulted in a series of ‘hostile’ government interventions, which were accelerated by then-Home Secretary Theresa May from 2014 onwards.
These interventions saw a significant tightening of documentation checks for people from the Windrush generation. However, in 2018, it emerged that the Home Office had kept no historical records of those granted permission to stay and failed to issue the required documents to confirm their status.
To exacerbate these problems, the Home Office also destroyed landing cards belonging to Windrush migrants in 2010. This meant that those people could not prove their legal residency in the country.
As a result of the policies and failings, thousands of people from the Windrush generation couldn’t access NHS healthcare, benefits, pensions and work. Some were sacked from their jobs, evicted from their homes, and many were wrongly detained. Tragically, some people were deported to countries they had left as children decades earlier.