Home Secretary James Cleverly taken to court docket for ignoring Windrush evaluate
Home Secretary James Cleverly should rethink the choice to disregard among the suggestions made by an unbiased evaluate into the Windrush scandal, campaigners have mentioned.
The Black Equity Organisation may have its authorized problem towards the Government’s choice to ditch three of 30 suggestions heard within the High Court in April.
Solicitor Wendy Williams printed her Windrush Lessons Learned Review in 2020 and all of her suggestions had been initially accepted by then-Home Secretary Priti Patel. But in January 2023 it was confirmed that Suella Braverman, who was in submit as Home Secretary by that stage, had dropped a dedication to ascertain a migrants’ commissioner, enhance the powers of the unbiased chief inspector of borders and immigration, and to carry reconciliation occasions.
Campaigners have beforehand described the axing of those suggestions as a “kick in the teeth to the Windrush generation, to whom our country owes such a huge debt of gratitude”.
The scandal erupted in 2018 when British residents, principally from the Caribbean, had been wrongly detained, deported or threatened with deportation, regardless of having the suitable to reside in Britain. Many misplaced houses and jobs, and had been denied entry to healthcare and advantages.
In a letter to Mr Cleverly, the BEO mentioned: “As Home Secretary, you have the opportunity to show that you and the Government are serious about righting past wrongs. To do anything less sends a clear message that the suffering of the Windrush generation was in vain and the hostile environment still exists.”
Last 12 months, a letter, whose signatories included actor David Harewood, singer Beverley Knight and former athletes Dame Denise Lewis and Colin Jackson, was despatched to the Prime Minister branding progress on the commitments to proper previous wrongs of the scandal “painfully slow”.
A Home Office spokesman mentioned: “Five years on, our determination to right the wrongs of the Windrush scandal remains as strong as ever and we have paid out more than £75 million in compensation. We have also made significant progress since Wendy Williams’ review and our important work to implement her recommendations continues. It would be inappropriate to comment further on ongoing legal proceedings.”
