Windrush: A Further Update
The Windrush Generation is STILL fighting for justice. I’m going to keep this post brief and limit it to events that have transpired in the last few months. Why? Because if you’ve been reading this blog for a while you will already know what I think and how I feel about the scandal, the Home Office, Priti Patel and the very racist fabric of this country. None of that has changed. If anything, those feelings have intensified, and every day I see the news it is a concerted effort not to explode into a fiery ball of rage. Anyway, I digress. What’s the update? Issues with the Compensation Scheme As…
Priti Patel and the Dangers of the Home Office
Another week, another example of despicable and dangerous behaviour from the Home Office. As you all ought to be aware, on 2 December a deportation flight to Jamaica took off. It was dubbed #Jamaica50 on Twitter and Instagram because 50 people were due to be deported. As campaigners such as BARAC UK rallied for public support to get the flight stopped, lawyers representing the deportees worked tirelessly and into the early hours of the morning of the 2nd to have those wrongfully put on that flight removed. When the flight took off, only 13 of the original 50 were on it. Let’s read that again. Only 13 people out of the…
The Jamaica Deportation Charter Flights: The Fallacies
Another month, another truckload of Tory oppression. As you will all know by now, the deportation charter flight that lawyers, campaigners and even some MPs were trying to stop took off nonetheless on February 11. I think we all knew it was going to, because this government is wedded to racism and oppression tighter than [insert your own analogy here]. But it’s not all doom and gloom. The tireless work of organisations like Detention Action and Movement for Justice meant that the Court of Appeal granted an application to have the detainees from Colnbrook and Harmondsworth detention centres with O2 SIM cards removed from the flight because of concerns over…
Windrush: An Update
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the Windrush Scandal is STILL a scandal. It is a scandal that has destroyed families: impoverishing them, separating them, causing them both mental and physical distress. It is a scandal that has claimed lives. If you’re not sure what I’m talking about you can read my posts about the scandal here, here and here. Given that such an egregious scandal is still ongoing, you would think it would be dominating the national conversation but oh no. You would think that it would at least be a feature during a General Election campaign, but there was barely even a whisper. You would…
National Windrush Day has passed. Where do we go from here?
Saturday 22 June saw the arrival of the UK’s first official Windrush Day, a day commemorating the arrival of British citizens from the Caribbean on the Empire Windrush in 1948, and celebrating the immense contribution the Windrush generation has made to British society and economy for the last 70+ years. Windrush Day also brought with it the announcement of a memorial dedicated to the Windrush generation in Waterloo station, where many members of the Windrush generation first arrived in London. The announcement was met with a mixed reception, with members of the community questioning the choice of location, criticizing the lack of consultation and, quite rightly, wondering where was…
The Windrush Scandal Isn’t Over: CALL TO ACTION
Last year, the news of the Windrush scandal shot into mainstream political discourse and, rightfully, became a subject of national outrage. Members of the Windrush generation – Caribbean people and their children who were invited here as British citizens to help rebuild Britain and fill labour shortages after World War II – suddenly found themselves being deported, fired, losing access to their benefits or pensions, losing their homes, access to healthcare and even access to their bank accounts. Some, who had travelled abroad to see friends or family, found themselves unable to return to the UK, stranded in the countries they’d gone to visit. Why? Because Theresa May, our soon-to-be former Prime…
Windrush Scandal: Why the Personal is Political
Below is an adapted version of a sermon I delivered at St. Peter de Beauvoir Town Church in May 2018. I know that everyone will know what the Windrush scandal is and how it came into being as there has been a lot of coverage of it in the news, so I won’t go into any detail about its history. Instead, I will start off by reinforcing the reality of the situation for those affected by the scandal – the impact of this injustice should never be forgotten. Despite numerous promises, platitudes and assurances from various government officials, scores of West Indians are in limbo, either stranded in the…
