Home Office representatives were banned by Hackney Council from attending a Windrush compensation event yesterday, as their presence would do “more harm than good”.
Councillor Carol Williams said that the presence of Home Office staff would do “more harm than good”. She acts as the Council’s lead on Windrush and also said that residents may be “concerned about coming forward” if Home Office staff were at the event.
The move follows the deportation of 17 people to Jamaica earlier this month. Although a last minute legal challenge was launched, amid concerns that some detainees had not been given access to proper legal counsel, but the flight still took place.
Williams added: “Following the deportations, I consulted with the Mayor and we took the decision that we were no longer in a position to invite the Home Office to Hackney… and that is a direct consequence of the deportations.
“We want them to publish a lessons-learned review, to reconsider the hostile environment policies, and we want to see some sort of movement or process before we reconsider their invitation.”
The event gave people an opportunity to get confidential advice on applying for compensation. Among those set to be present were immigration lawyers and the local citizen advice bureau.
A Home Office spokesperson said it was disappointing there was no Home Office presence at the event, “given we had worked closely with Hackney Council to organise it.”
In August 2018, Hackney Council was the first to pledge opposition to the criminalisation of Windrush families.
The Home Office have reiterated that among those deported were serious offenders, with criminal records for offences including firearm possession and grievous bodily harm. However, campaigners argue that many of those on the flight committed minor historical offences.
A spokesman for the Prime Minister said: “We make no apology whatsoever for seeking to remove serious foreign national offenders.”
