Government to pay up to £200m in Windrush compensation
Campaigners say that money can never make up for what victims suffered
The home secretary, Sajid Javid, has announced that the government will pay up to £200m in compensation to the victims of the Windrush scandal.
“Nothing we say or do will ever wipe away the hurt, the trauma, the loss that should never have been suffered by the men and women of the Windrush generation, but together we can begin to right the wrongs of Windrush,” he said.
The Windrush scandal saw Commonwealth nationals living in the UK wrongly threatened with deportation and deprived of medical care because they lacked the correct documentation.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Announcing the pay-out for those whose lives were damaged by the government’s erroneous classification of long-term British residents as illegal immigrants, Javid said there is “no limit” to the amount of money that could be paid out to victims.
However, his announcement has not satisfied campaigners. Satbir Singh, CEO, Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said the announcement was “short on detail” and that “money cannot buy back the years the victims have lost to destitution and anguish - nor can it compensate for the despair they felt”.
Victims have expressed mixed feelings over the news. Asked what she hoped to get from the compensation scheme, Glenda Caesar, who lost her job as an NHS nurse as a result of the scandal said: “I'm asking for not millions... but look at what I was earning, my pension - 10 years of my pension I lost as well - validate that.”
Willow Sims, another victim, says she “doesn't care about the money” but needs “to at least recoup what I have lost”.
Victims also claim they have been snubbed from an official reception to launch the compensation scheme, with immigration lawyer Jacqueline McKenzie saying this proves “nothing has been learned” by the Home Office and that “this group continues to be treated with contempt”.
Javid’s announcement comes almost a year after the government admitted that its treatment of the Windrush generation had been “appalling”, and pledged to reform the immigration system and offer compensation to the Windrush victims.
A Home Office impact assessment has calculated that the scheme will cost between £49m and £587m - including compensation and operational costs. However, the assessment warns there's “significant uncertainty” over costs because it's unclear how many people will apply.
The Windrush group comprises British citizens who came to the UK from the Commonwealth as children following the Second World War, and whose rights were guaranteed in the Immigration Act of 1971. They were named the Windrush generation after British ship the Empire Windrush.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Antony Gormley's Time Horizon – a 'judgmental army' of 100 cast-iron men
The Week Recommends Sculptures are 'everymen questioning the privilege of their surroundings' at the Norfolk stately home
By Adrienne Wyper, The Week UK Published
-
'King's horses take free rein through London'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Is pop music now too reliant on gossip?
Talking Point Taylor Swift's new album has prompted a flurry of speculation over who she is referring to in her songs
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Will Aukus pact survive a second Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question US, UK and Australia seek to expand 'game-changer' defence partnership ahead of Republican's possible return to White House
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published
-
It's the economy, Sunak: has 'Rishession' halted Tory fightback?
Today's Big Question PM's pledge to deliver economic growth is 'in tatters' as stagnation and falling living standards threaten Tory election wipeout
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why your local council may be going bust
The Explainer Across England, local councils are suffering from grave financial problems
By The Week UK Published
-
Rishi Sunak and the right-wing press: heading for divorce?
Talking Point The Telegraph launches 'assault' on PM just as many Tory MPs are contemplating losing their seats
By Keumars Afifi-Sabet, The Week UK Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
How the biggest election year in history might play out
The Explainer Votes in world's biggest democracies, as well as its most 'despotic' and 'stressed' countries, face threats of violence and suppression
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Good democracies include their poorest citizens. The UK excludes them'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published