Richard Assheton and Lizzie Deane
Some members of the Windrush generation in Hackney are still “living through hell”, Hackney MP Meg Hillier has said.
The Hackney South and Shoreditch MP said almost a year after the scandal over their treatment by the government erupted, some of her constituents continue to “go through hoops” to get properly settled.
Her comments come after the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) which she chairs in Parliament published a damning report on the Home Office’s response to the scandal yesterday.
She said: “This government has got a very definite policy of making life tough. I represent constituents who are just living through the hell of having to go through complicated procedures, expensive procedures, more hoops.
“These are things that if you’re British-born white with a British-sounding surname you don’t have to go through and in fact if you’re British-born black you don’t have to go through. Any migrant now going through the system is going through many, many more hoops. You could say it’s an anti-immigrant policy.”
Meanwhile, Patrick Vernon, a leading campaigner for the Windrush generation and a former Hackney councillor, told the Hackney Post that Hackney Council must arrange a summit with other local authorities to demand the government scrap its illegal immigration policy. He said he had spoken to a number of councillors around the country about the idea and he has also long called for a public inquiry into the affair.
Mr Vernon, who led the successful campaign last year for the establishment of a National Windrush Day, said the council’s response to the scandal so far had been “fantastic” and “a real powerful model”. In August, Hackney became the first council to pass a motion calling for a public inquiry into the Windrush scandal.
Diane Abbott, Shadow Home Secretary and MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, echoed Hillier’s dismay, tweeting yesterday: “Seems like Govt wants to limit scandal almost solely to passengers on the SS Empire Windrush. In fact, the victims come from all over the Commonwealth – and their families.”
The PAC condemned the Home Office for continuing to fail the victims of the scandal, in which immigrants who arrived from the Commonwealth in the 1950s and 1960s were detained, denied legal rights or deported because they were unable to prove their British citizenship.
It criticised the Home Office for taking eight months to set up what was called an “emergency” hardship fund for those affected, from which by the end of last year only one person had been paid. It also noted that a promised compensation scheme has yet to materialise.
At an event at Hackney Town Hall on 23 February at which campaigners, victims and Mayor of Hackney Philip Glanville met to coordinate their efforts, victim Anthony Davis said the government response to the scandal had made it “linger on and linger on”.
Mr Davis said: “Until we get together, as one unit and let our voice known, they will not hear us. This compensation thing has been lingering on after Brexit. They have no intention of giving us anything.”
One man, Ken Morgan, arrived in the UK in 1959 aged nine and settled in Hackney with his aunt and uncle. He has only just returned home from Jamaica after his British passport was seized without explanation at Kingston airport, Jamaica, 25 years ago. He still has not got his passport back, according to The Guardian.
The PAC report also cited the case of Vernon Vanriel, from Tottenham, who came to the UK in 1962 and was allowed back in September last year after 11 years in Jamaica. He is still waiting for council housing and is relying on help from relatives.
The report warned of the dire consequences of the continued delay in getting support to victims. “Many of those in need of help are elderly and vulnerable and cannot afford to wait any longer,” it cautioned. “Homelessness is an acute issue for those affected requiring urgent action.”
Ms Hillier told the Hackney Post that while hardship payments must be made urgently, compensating victims for their suffering would be a challenge. She said: “What can compensate? A formula would be quick but unfair, but if you do it bespoke it will take forever.” She said in her view, before negotiations over individual circumstances happen an “ex gratia flat rate” should be paid.
Ms Hillier also echoed the PAC report in noting there are many people not from the Caribbean who have been affected in the same way as those of the Windrush Generation. She claimed the Home Office is worried about setting a precedent for these others by paying out to victims from the Caribbean. The Home Office has limited a review of its procedures to 12 Caribbean countries.
Ms Hillier said councils should “think about the outcomes” of a summit and said a public inquiry would only “knock things into the long grass”.
But Mr Vernon insisted there must be a major overhaul of Home Office procedures because the department its so-called hostile environment policy makes it “institutionally racist”.
Hostile environment was the term used by the Home Office from 2012 to refer to a set of policies designed to make life difficult for those illegally in the UK in order to encourage them to leave.
When Mr Javid arrived in his job, after Amber Rudd resigned as Home Secretary over her reaction to the scandal in April last year, he distanced himself from the term and vowed to “do right by the Windrush generation”.
But Mr Vernon claimed in practice little has changed. He said: “They’ve changed the language, they’ve called it the ‘compliant environment’. So what is the difference between ‘compliance’ and ‘hostile’ when people are still being deported?”
Last month 29 people were deported to Jamaica on the first such flight since the Windrush scandal. The Home Office said those on board were “serious foreign criminals”.
Mr Vernon said: “This policy is racist and we need to get rid of it. The Home Office is not acknowledging the human rights of the Windrush Generation.”
Ms Hillier disagreed that the Home Office is racist, but repeated the assertion in the Parliamentary report that the department has “systemic” problems that cannot be eradicated overnight.
She said: “I’d be very wary of any Home Secretary who tells you they are going to sort it all out and it’s all going to be easy.”
Almost 20 per cent of Hackney’s residents are of African or Caribbean heritage.
Announcing the PAC report, Ms Hillier said: “It is deeply regrettable that a scandal of this magnitude, on the back of repeated and unheeded warnings, does not appear to have fully shaken the Home Office out of its complacency about its systemic and cultural problems. This must change now.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Secretary and Immigration Minister have been resolute in their determination to right the wrongs experienced by the Windrush generation and have commissioned a Lessons Learned review with independent oversight and scrutiny to establish what went wrong and prevent it happening again.
“The Taskforce has helped thousands of people of different nationalities prove their status in the UK. Through the Windrush Scheme 3,400 people have obtained British Citizenship. In addition, the Taskforce has a dedicated Vulnerable Persons Team which has provided support to over 600 people including referrals to the Department for Work and Pensions for benefit claims and advice and support on housing.”
