Windrush Day is bittersweet as legacy of Theresa May's hostile environment lingers
Plus: One year of a Labour government – how are they faring? Have your say with our reader survey.
Last week, Number 10 hosted a reception in honour of Windrush Day [June 22nd], but beneath the melodic chimes of the steel band, the echoes of Kier Starmer’s “island of strangers” rhetoric was likely still ringing in the ears of many attendees.
It’s a sentiment that directly contradicts the Prime Minister’s earnest assertions – shared in a video posted on Sunday – that his Labour government will “never forget the legacy of the Windrush generation, who laid the foundations for modern Britain”. But where this government seems to find the energy for statues, events and gestures, the real work of undoing and compensating the wrongs this generation has faced for decades is still severely lacking.
A national day, a monument at Waterloo Station, a TFL Overground line. Against the backdrop of the government’s continued inaction on the Windrush Scandal, these commemorations are only good for bittersweet celebration at best.
Just last month, another Windrush generation man who was wrongly excluded from the UK by the Home Office, had his deportation order revoked. Gersham Williams, 74, was sent back to Jamaica in 2016 and left to live in poverty. In the same week, Winston Knight, who had lived in the UK for 47 years before being deported, was allowed to return to the UK – but had been forced to live on the streets of Jamaica for more than a decade.
The compensation scheme for those affected by the scandal has been torturously slow and retraumatising, and of those who managed to navigate the convoluted system, many were significantly underpaid due to the lack of government funding for legal advice during the application process. A study last week revealed one woman’s payout rose from £300 to £170,000 after a lawyer assisted her, others rose from zero to £95,000 or from £10,000 to £150,000, with legal help.
“With his ‘island of strangers’ comment, Starmer signalled that the only legacy truly being honoured is that of Theresa May’s hostile environment.”
Earlier this month, Labour appointed the first Windrush commissioner – seven years after the scandal was first exposed. The Reverend Clive Foster, will take up the role for three years and has vowed to deliver change and provide some much-needed scrutiny to the mechanisms of compensation and justice. Does this go far enough? Campaigners say it doesn’t, and are now calling for a judge-led inquiry into the scandal.
My grandparents were part of the Windrush Generation, invited to the UK by the government in the 1960s. My granddad worked on the buses while my grandmother became a nurse in the NHS. They built decent lives for themselves in Britain, but, like so many of their peers, they faced economic struggles, open hostility, a lifetime of racism and discrimination. They both died in the last five years. There is urgency to this fight. So many of this generation are already gone, and many who are left are having to use their remaining energy to claw back the dignity, recognition and compensation that should have been theirs long ago.
Windrush Day – finally adopted as an official celebration in 2018, after more than a decade of campaigning – is meant to honour the contributions of Caribbean migrants to the post-war economy and culture of the UK, but with his “island of strangers” comment, Starmer signalled that the only legacy truly being honoured is that of Theresa May’s hostile environment. More than 50 people have died waiting for their Windrush compensation claims to be processed, those who are left must see justice in their lifetimes.■
About the author: Natalie Morris is our Senior Editor here at The Lead. Elsewhere, she is a freelance writer, journalist and host covering social justice, inequality, health and community, published in The Guardian, The Independent, The Telegraph, Grazia, Stylist, Glamour, Cosmopolitan and more. She is the author of Mixed/Other and co-author of Leigh-Anne Pinnock’s memoir Believe.
This piece is part of The Lead Says, bringing you insightful writing on people, place and policy. At The Lead we have covered the Windrush Scandal and the contributions of the Windrush Generation to Britain, from the Windrush descendants shaping the future of Britain, to the ‘other Windrush Scandal’ of systemic racism in education that left the children of migrants illiterate, to the hidden histories of the important Black Caribbean women who are left out of the history books.
We have also written about the Windrush Caribbean Film Festival (which is happening right now), and the importance of spotlighting narratives beyond struggle. The story of Caribbean migrants in the UK is multifaceted, vibrant and beautiful, the sixth annual film festival featuring drama, short film and documentary, brings light to the many joys and triumphs alongside the trauma.
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One year of Kier Starmer’s Labour government
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How are they performing on the key issues that matter to you? From the economy and cost of living crisis, to the NHS, education, housing and migration – is this government doing better or worse than you hoped this time last year? Now is your chance to rate them.
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It's the same old message in different words. Nobody actually cares what happens to people that aren't white. Face it, trumps regime is becoming Englands regime. Starmer stop giving yourself accolades for listening when your'e not HEARING a sodding thing. All that's in your head is how can I save my government. Not even "the party" is important at this time. I for one don't think you were EVER a Labourite! I voted labour all my life because it was a party for the working class. It was a party that stood up for us. I didn't vote for you this time because I knew you were not for US!