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Monday 16 April 2018

Tories Abandon Windrush Generation

Almost all of today’s papers focus on the aftermath of the latest bombing of targets in Syria, and in the case of those titles that slavishly back the Government, for which read most of them, there is a very good reason for them to divert attention from a far less appealing facet of Theresa May and her motley crew.
In June this year, it will be 70 years since the Empire Windrush, a troopship that had started life as a German cruise liner, docked at Tilbury, bringing one of the first large groups of immigrants from the West Indies. Almost 500 made the journey; they were followed by many more over the following years.

The routine of this migration was even captured in John Schlesinger’s 1960 landmark documentary Terminus, as a party from Jamaica arrives at London’s Waterloo station on a Southampton boat train. And there was one more important aspect of that migration: at the time, those arriving were what were then called British Subjects. They were therefore not considered as foreign - well, until now, it seems.

Although anyone living here continuously since before 1 January 1973 is legally entitled to live in the UK, many of those who arrived here as children have never had a passport, and this has made it difficult for some to prove that they are entitled to be here. Some of those people travelled on their parents’ passports; they never became formally naturalised.
Realising that there is a problem, the Government has made this statement: “Recent changes to the law mean that if you wish to work, rent property or have access to benefits and services in the UK then you will need documents to demonstrate your right to be in the UK. The government believes this is a proportionate measure to maintain effective immigration control … We recognise that this is causing problems for some individuals who have lost documents over the long period of time they have been in the UK … No one with the right to be here will be required to leave”. This has not allayed concerns.

So, ahead of this week’s Commonwealth Heads Of Government Meeting (CHOGM), representatives of 12 Caribbean countries requested a meeting with Theresa May to discuss the problems being faced by some of the “Windrush Generation”. This formal diplomatic request has been turned down, as the Guardian has reported.
The Barbados high commissioner has confirmed “We did make a request to the CHOGM summit team for a meeting to be held between the prime minister and the Commonwealth Caribbean heads of government who will be here for the CHOGM and regrettably they have advised us that that is not possible”. Lack of press coverage explained in one.

Some of those affected have even been threatened with deportation - and to countries where they have no living relatives. They are people who, as the Guardian has also told, “were invited to move to the UK by the British government to help with postwar rebuilding”. Now they face uncertainty: loss of work, benefits, eligibility for NHS treatment, and a Home Office that appears to assume they are here illegally. 

And now the Tories have abandoned them. People who have worked and contributed to the economy for decades. The same Tories who proclaim that Brexit will mean closer ties with the Commonwealth. This is shameful behaviour. It must never be forgotten.

8 comments:

Gulliver Foyle said...

Absolutely appalling, and I'm sure all those EU leaders looking to secure the rights of their citizens living and working in the UK for many years will be taking note.

Ted Bangor said...

Use the bombing of another country to help hide unpleasant news at home or just to appear "touch" and "Decisive" (assuming you can do the latter while blindly following someone else). Surely no govemernment would do that.

Well unless they had tiny orange fingers that were just itching to start a war with proxy Russia in order to prove he had no ties with Russia even though such a war would only help Russia.

Darren G said...

Gulliver Foyle +1

Anonymous said...

Of COURSE the tories have abandoned them.

It's what the cold, desensitised bastards do at every opportunity.

It's their corner shop mentality: Nobody else exists except for profit, nobody else works for a living unless they vote tory and buys their shoddy stock.

So why be surprised when they put the boot into yet another prone street casualty?

Anonymous said...

It's a parallel to the waspi women. I should imagine that a majority are of, or soon to be of pensionable age.
This 'know the price of everything, value of nothing' bunch of vile shits will stop at nothing to dismantle the consensus.
Kick the bastards hard at next months elections.

Anonymous said...

Some people have actually been deported.


@cathynewman
Immigration minister @carolinenokes apologises to #Windrush generation wrongly questioned over their right to stay in UK but tells me some have been deported in error. Watch full interview at 7 on @Channel4News

'In error'. Sure.


@NesrineMalik
Some have already been deported in error making it almost impossible for them to return. And if the media hadn’t got hold of this story god knows how many more would have been deported. The Home Office needs an urgent political intervention.


David Lammy today, 16th April 2018

@DavidLammy
I have secured an Urgent Question on the immigration status of Windrush Generation children today at 3:30. This crisis must be resolved today.

Arnold said...

"Downing Street said May had only become aware of the request on Monday morning and confirmed that she would be holding a meeting “at the earliest possible opportunity” with the Caribbean leaders." Right... Bombing Syria to divert attention from the Brexit shambles hasn't gone too well, has it?

In normal times, Ministers who admitted to not knowing what their departments were doing would resign. Either the Home Office was following Rudd's policy or making its own. Which?

Jonathan said...

Tories - bomb Syria to protect Syrian people from its government..
Wins applause from Blairites. Oh and Syria has lots of mineral resources to exploit.

Windrush generation being deported due to British government wanting look tough to win headlines. Blairites silent. Windrush generation have no resources to exploit.