Feryal Clark MP responds to Windrush Debate

The Windrush Scandal remains a stain upon our country.  A generation of people, and their families,  that gave so much to Britain have been gravely wronged and justice has still not been delivered.

The scandal is an example of the racial injustice which is still experienced by many Black Caribbean people across British society.

It is completely unacceptable that just 687 people have received compensation from the Windrush Compensation Scheme, from the 11,500 people the Home Office estimated might be eligible. While tragically, at least 21 people have died waiting for justice.  The mishandling of the Windrush Compensation Scheme has heaped insult upon injustice.

There have been damming reviews in to the Government’s role in the Windrush Scandal, from the Wendy Williams “Lessons Learned Review”, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), to see whether the Home Office complied with the Public Sector Equality Duty obligations in its hostile environment policy; and the National Audit Office (NAO) investigated the work of the Windrush Compensation Scheme.

Each of these uncovered serious failings at the Home Office, under Conservative Ministers.

We cannot allow this to continue, which is why I’m proud to support Labour’s call for a total overhaul of the Windrush Compensation Scheme by placing it under independent leadership through a new independent body.

Action must not stop here however, and we must do more to tackle the root problem of institutional racism in the UK, which is why the next Labour Government will introduce a Race Equality Act to systemically tackle the root causes of racism, and ensure that we never see a repeat of the Windrush scandal.