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Windrush cases pass 200 as top MP calls for Home Office to do 'much more'

A top MP has claimed the Home Office should be doing "much more" to get a grip on the Windrush immigration row, as the number of confirmed cases being investigated passed 200.

Labour's Yvette Cooper, chair of the Home Affairs Select Committee, told Sky News it was her view that the department should be proactively seeking out those potentially affected, instead of encouraging them to call a hotline which was established earlier this week.

In its latest update, the Home Office said it was investigating a total of 232 cases, with the first four people to contact the hotline being given permanent status.

:: What it's like to face deportation after decades in the UK

The Government has vowed to resolve cases within two weeks, with Prime Minister Theresa May saying "we have no intention of asking anyone to leave who has the right to remain here".

But there were further calls for action at an emotional meeting of the Windrush generation and their descendants in Parliament on Thursday evening.

Labour MPs David Lammy and Diane Abbott called for compensation for those affected, with Mr Lammy demanding an exemption for Caribbean and West Indian people in the UK.

The Windrush generation are named after the cruise ship that brought one of the first large groups of West Indians to Britain, as the country sought to rebuild after the Second World War.

Anyone who entered the UK before 1973 is legally entitled to live in Britain, but many of the Windrush generation have recently suffered issues as a result of tightened UK immigration requirements introduced when Mrs May was home secretary.

Their problems include difficulties when finding work, getting NHS care, accessing benefits, or trying to secure housing, as they do not have the correct documentation to prove they are entitled to live in the UK.

The Home Office has confirmed 113 cases are now being investigated, but ministers have insisted they are yet to find evidence to confirm reports that some have been wrongly deported.

The Home Affairs Committee has called the current Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, to give evidence next week.

Ms Cooper told Sky News the committee's MPs have "a lot of questions" they want answered.

She said at the heart of the scandal was a concern that the Home Office has "taken decisions... to disbelieve people, to ask people for information they couldn't possibly provide, then to disbelieve them and then also to make so many errors and mistakes along the way".

Ms Cooper said they would "pursue the evidence wherever it goes", raising the prospect of Mrs May potentially being summoned to give evidence.

She also called on the Home Office to do more, saying the department should be contacting hospitals to make sure no one from the Windrush generation was being denied treatment and reviewing all cases of deportation to Caribbean Commonwealth countries of those aged over 40.

And on the Home Office's hotline, she said: "At the moment there is around 100 cases that are being looked at by the Home Office, but those are the cases where people have called them, people have raised their concerns and gone to the Home Office.

"I don't think it's enough for the Home Office to say 'you call us', they should be actively reviewing all of the cases that they have in the system to make sure they're not unfairly and wrongly pursuing people who have a right to be here."

It has been suggested by some that compensation should be paid to those caught up in the row. Ms Cooper said she had sympathy with such an argument, saying the Home Office should "look at" such a step.

Environment Secretary Michael Gove told Sky News the Government has "moved very quickly to deal with this situation", adding that Ms Rudd is "humane and determined and wants to ensure that we do the right thing".

The comments from Ms Cooper came after a former head of the civil service claimed the PM's pursuit of a "hostile environment" for illegal immigrants in Britain was seen in Whitehall as "almost reminiscent of Nazi Germany".

Lord Kerslake, civil service chief between 2012 and 2014, told the BBC some ministers were "deeply unhappy" with the "hostile environment" policy at the time.

Mr Gove, who held a number of Cabinet positions during the period, said he did not "recollect any such conversation of the kind that he refers to during that time".

:: The Home Office has set up a dedicated web page to help Commonwealth citizens confirm their status in the UK, which can be found here. Alternatively, call the Home Office helpline on 0300 123 2241.

:: Are you a member or descendant of the Windrush generation? Sky News would like to hear from you.
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