(1 day, 19 hours ago)
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Helen Hayes (Dulwich and West Norwood) (Lab)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered Windrush Day 2025.
I am grateful to the Backbench Business Committee for allocating time for this important debate.
On 22 June 1948, HMT Empire Windrush arrived in Tilbury docks from the Caribbean, carrying 1,027 passengers and two stowaways. More than half the passengers came from Jamaica, and there were many from Trinidad, Bermuda and British Guiana. There were other nationalities too, including Polish passengers who had been displaced during the second world war. The passengers were responding to advertisements in local newspapers, including The Gleaner in Jamaica, for jobs in the UK, with an opportunity to travel on the Windrush for £28.
As we mark this 77th anniversary, I want to acknowledge and pay my respects to the Windrush pioneers who have passed away in the last year. They include Windrush passengers Alford Gardner, who I had the privilege of meeting at the 70th anniversary reception in Speaker’s House, and “Big John” Richards. They also include the Windrush pioneers Nadia Cattouse, Eddie Grizzle, Enid Jackson, Claudette Williams, Gerlin Bean, Lord Herman Ouseley—the former chief executive of Lambeth council—Paul Stephenson, Norman Mitchell, Nellie Louise Brown and my constituent Neil Flanigan, a founding member of the West Indian Association of Service Personnel. Their loss is an important reminder of the importance of capturing the stories and oral histories that are part of our national story while there is still time to do so.
In 1948, the UK was desperate for labour to help rebuild the country following the devastation of the second world war, and the passengers on the Windrush brought a wealth of skills. They included dozens of airmen who had volunteered to serve in the Royal Air Force during the war and who had played a hugely significant role in fighting fascism in Europe, including the late Samuel Beaver King—Sam King—who became the first black mayor of Southwark. Windrush passengers from the Caribbean travelled as British citizens as a result of the British Nationality Act 1948, which created a new category of “citizen of the United Kingdom and colonies” for anyone born or naturalised in either the UK or any of the countries subject to colonial rule.
About 200 of the Windrush passengers found temporary accommodation at the Clapham South deep air raid shelter, from where they found their way to the nearest labour exchange, on Coldharbour Lane in Brixton in my constituency, to look for work and permanent accommodation. Many of them found accommodation through Jamaican landlord Gus Leslie, who had bought property in and around Somerleyton Road, and they settled in the area close to what is now called Windrush Square. The Windrush passengers found London still devastated by the war, and they found work in a wide variety of different sectors of the economy, including in construction and on London’s public transport network. It is fitting that one of the London overground lines has now been named the Windrush line.
Of course, many of the passengers came to work in the NHS, which was formally established less than a fortnight after the arrival of the Windrush. King’s College hospital is at the other end of Coldharbour Lane from the site of the labour exchange in my constituency. Members of the Windrush generation have helped to sustain our NHS from its inception, not only in London but right across the country.
Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)
I thank my constituency neighbour for making such a powerful opening speech. Does she recognise the valuable contributions of the Windrush generation staff at King’s College hospital in her constituency and, equally, the valuable contribution—and powerful statue—of Mary Seacole at St Thomas’ hospital, in my constituency, that overlooks this Parliament?
Helen Hayes
Of course, in our two boroughs of Lambeth and Southwark, the contribution of the Windrush generation is extraordinary. It is demonstrated most powerfully in the statue that my hon. Friend mentions.
The lives of Windrush passengers, and of others from the Caribbean who followed them to Brixton, were captured by commercial photographer Harry Jacobs, who set up shop on Landor Road, close to Brixton town centre, to provide photographic services so that people could send images to their loved ones. Harry’s photos poignantly captured the hopes, dreams and achievements of people in the process of making a new life: a woman in her nurse’s uniform; families dressed in their Sunday best, showing off their prized possessions; and the first image of a new baby or a new spouse.
However, as we remember those stories with affection, our commemorations of Windrush Day must avoid any sentimentality. The contribution of the Windrush pioneers was made in a context of widespread racism, the clearest and ugliest illustration of which was found on signs on the doors of boarding houses—stating “No Irish, no blacks, no dogs”—and which in many situations ran much deeper, often resulting in daily discrimination and humiliation. An egregious example is the appalling and still unaddressed scandal of black children being deemed emotionally subnormal in the 1960s and ’70s and being placed in special schools, where they were denied an education and made to feel inferior.
Deirdre Costigan (Ealing Southall) (Lab)
My hon. Friend is making a very powerful speech. She talks about the experience of black children in education, and could I remind her of my constituent, Eric Huntley, whom I serendipitously bumped into at the weekend? He and his wife Jessica, who lived at 141 Coldershaw Road in West Ealing, established the Bogle-L’Ouverture Publications Bookshop back in the 1960s and 1970s. They also established the Black Parents Movement, which was to help children who were stuck in such schools and were not being given the education they were entitled to. Does she agree that we still need to continue that work to make sure that black children in our schools are treated fairly and get the education they deserve?
Helen Hayes
I pay tribute to my hon. Friend’s constituents, who, like so many of the Windrush generation, demonstrated their resilience by taking initiatives to circumnavigate the racism to which they were subject. We still live with that racism and discrimination today, and we can never be complacent about that. We must continue to address all the issues that still need to be dealt with.
Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)
In the 1960s and 1970s, lots of young black children were identified as educationally subnormal, and were sent to such schools even though they were not educationally subnormal. Does my hon. Friend believe that their descendants and the people affected by that really need to be given an apology to acknowledge what they experienced during that time?
Helen Hayes
I thank my hon. Friend for all the work she is doing on this issue. As I have said, I believe this is an unaddressed issue on which there is still work to do.
In that vein, it is devastating to read the words of John Carpenter, which I have shared before in this House, who travelled on the Windrush aged 22. Speaking in 1998, he said:
“They tell you it is the ‘mother country’, you’re all welcome, you all British. When you come here you realise you’re a foreigner and that’s all there is to it.”
Despite the hardships and injustices they endured, the Windrush passengers and those who followed them settled in the UK and put down roots, using the Pardner Hand community savings scheme to buy property to circumvent the racist landlords, and to establish businesses and churches. Sam King became a postal worker, was elected to Southwark council and became the first black mayor of the borough. It was a very brave achievement since he faced threats from the National Front, which was active in Southwark at that time. Sam was also instrumental in establishing the Notting Hill carnival and the West Indian Gazette. He later established the Windrush Foundation with Arthur Torrington, who still runs it.
In my constituency, the Windrush generation helped to forge the Brixton we know today. In doing so, they made a huge contribution to a community where everyone is welcome, where difference is not feared but celebrated, and where we are not strangers but friends and neighbours. To mark the 70th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, talented young people from Brixton designed a beautiful logo, which is based on the pattern of human DNA.
The Windrush generation and subsequent migrants who have come to this country from all over the Commonwealth sparked the emergence of modern multicultural Britain. They are part of us, and part of the UK’s 21st-century DNA. The Windrush generation made an extraordinary and enduring contribution, because the Windrush generation continued to endure—
Dawn Butler
On that point about the expats who came over from the Caribbean and what they endured, does my hon. Friend agree that we sometimes fail to recognise the strength and the resilience of the Windrush generation, which often gets overlooked?
Helen Hayes
I thank my hon. Friend for intervening and helping me make sense of a sentence in my notes that did not quite work.
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend that the Windrush generation made an extraordinary and enduring contribution, and showed immense resilience, but they continued to endure racism and injustice. In 2018, journalist Amelia Gentleman exposed what became known as the Windrush scandal—the systematic denial of citizenship rights to British citizens who had come to the UK from across the Commonwealth in the decades after the second world war, which saw them deported or denied entry to the UK, unable to work or claim their pension, and refused healthcare and housing.
Clive Lewis (Norwich South) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend for making a fantastic speech, and for securing this debate. It does seem sometimes quite unfashionable in this day and age to look at the discrimination that that community has endured for so many decades, and not to see it as structural racism. In other words, there is a thread from colonialism, empire and slavery all the way through to Windrush and what we still experience to this day. Would she comment on that issue?
Helen Hayes
I will come on to the wider implications of the scandal, which I think speak to the issue my hon. Friend highlights.
The Windrush scandal was the most egregious breach of trust. The Windrush compensation scheme was poorly set up by the previous Government, justice has been far too slow and, sadly, many victims of the scandal have died still waiting for redress. It was very moving to attend, with my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi), the Windrush national vigil on Windrush Square on 6 April, led by Bishop Dr Desmond Jaddoo, to remember the victims.
A comparative analysis by King’s College London of the compensation scheme compared with other redress schemes, including the Post Office Horizon scheme and the infected blood scandal scheme, has demonstrated that the Windrush compensation scheme has a much lower success rate for applicants, more complex initial eligibility requirements, a higher required standard of proof, an inaccessible application process, an absence of funding for independent legal representation for applicants, decision making that lacks independence, and a process that is inaccessible. It is vital that changes are made so that victims of the Windrush scandal can have confidence in the compensation scheme.
That is important because the impacts of the scandal are experienced not only by the victims themselves, but across the Windrush generation as a whole and for subsequent generations, who live with the emotional weight and the economic cost of what their loved ones have endured, and whose trust in British institutions and the Government has been fractured as a consequence.
Ms Stella Creasy (Walthamstow) (Lab/Co-op)
My hon. Friend is making an incredibly powerful speech. Does she share not just my tribute to Amelia Gentleman for the work she did to uncover what happened with the Windrush scandal, as well as people like Colin McFarlane and the Justice 4 Windrush Generation campaign, but my horror at the evidence we have seen this week that those given compensation to date have not actually been given the same amounts as those in other comparable scandals? Does she agree that we must right that wrong from this place?
Helen Hayes
I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. This is a question of trust and a question of basic fairness. There cannot be any excuse for a lack of clarity across compensation schemes dealing with similar structural injustices for which the state is responsible.
There is more work to do to ensure that such a scandal can never happen again. This means reflecting on the causes of the Windrush scandal in future policy and legislative decisions. For example, we must make sure that the introduction of e-visas allows no scope for anyone who is legitimately in the UK to be wrongly denied their status because they cannot access a document online.
It also means ensuring that we understand our own past. The Government have commissioned Professor Becky Francis to undertake the curriculum and assessment review, and I hope she will be thinking about how subjects such as history and geography can be taught through the prism of an accurate understanding of our past, so that through a prism of migration to our country, whether, like me, people come from a town with a Viking name and a Norman church or whether their family arrived in the UK in more recent times, they can locate their own story in our history and understand that there is no us and them. We are a nation that has always been formed and sustained by people who have come from overseas to make their home on these islands.
And it means resourcing properly the organisations that are the custodians of history, including the National Windrush Museum, and the Black Cultural Archives in my constituency. The BCA was established in 1981 by Len Garrison, who had come to the UK from Jamaica as a child in 1954 and became a great educationalist in our city. The BCA has an extensive archive documenting the history of black people in the UK, from the African-Roman emperor stationed at Hadrian’s wall, Septimius Severus, to black Georgians, the Windrush generation and much, much more. It is a national resource that is critical to our understanding as a society and vital for the sense of place and belonging for many black British people. The BCA needs stable core funding from the Government commensurate with its national role to enable it to do the work of outreach and interpretation, and to secure it for the long term. I mention very briefly the important and ambitious campaign led by Patrick Vernon to retrieve the anchor of the Empire Windrush from its current resting place in the Mediterranean sea, so that it can be restored as a memorial and as a tool for the education of younger generations.
In preparing for this debate, I have been in touch with many people who have campaigned and continue to campaign for Windrush justice. They have differing views about the role of celebration on Windrush Day. I know there are some who are concerned that celebration undermines the fight for justice and that they cannot celebrate until justice has been done, and I understand that perspective, but there are others who passionately believe that assertively celebrating the Windrush generation and all they have contributed and achieved, giving visibility to the community, is a part of the fight for justice. That celebration sustains their campaigning and it is also important for health and wellbeing. I am looking forward to joining the Brixton Immortals Domino club celebrations on Saturday and the Big Caribbean Lunch on Sunday, organised by Ros Griffiths, both to be held on Windrush Square in my constituency.
Finally, I want to consider the wider importance of fully addressing the Windrush scandal and all its implications. As my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis) highlighted, the Windrush scandal happened as a consequence of structural injustices and it happened as a consequence of our history. Windrush must not be compartmentalised, because if we do that we cannot be sure that such a scandal will not be repeated. I mentioned the extraordinary role of members of the Windrush generation and their descendants in our NHS, which continues to this day. Our NHS today, in King’s College hospital in my constituency, is also sustained by nurses from the Philippines and south India, who were asked to come by our hospitals because we needed their skills in our healthcare system. We cannot rest until we are sure that they, or any other group, will not face the horrific injustice of discrimination based on racism and ignorance that is embedded in law and policy.
I welcome very much the personal commitment of my hon. Friend the Minister to Windrush justice. I was pleased to attend the Windrush summit last week at the Home Office. It is a credit to the approach my hon. Friend has taken and the work she has done that so many people who have campaigned for Windrush justice felt able to attend an event in the Department that had done them such wrong. I know that many of the attendees would not have thought that possible just a few months ago. I welcome the Minister’s commitment to implementing all the recommendations of Wendy Williams’ lessons learned review and the imminent appointment of a Windrush commissioner. I thank her for all the work she is doing to listen, engage and take meaningful steps to restore trust and confidence. I know that she understands that there is much more still to do, and I look forward to continuing to work with her on behalf of my constituents to secure the depth and breadth of the change we need.
Kim Johnson (Liverpool Riverside) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for securing this important debate. She has long been a friend to the Windrush community and their descendants, and has long played a major role in celebrating and commemorating their contributions to this country.
I am proud to speak in this debate as the first black MP for Liverpool; I am proud of my African and Irish heritage. Many Members might not know that the SS Ormonde docked in Liverpool the year before the Empire Windrush made her final destination at Tilbury in June 1948. The Windrush generation came to Britain as citizens—invited by Enoch Powell, we should remember —to rebuild a broken nation after the war. In Liverpool, they settled mostly in the south of the city, building a vibrant community and contributing to our culture in many different ways, from music to food to football and to the unique Scouse spirit. They included Lord Woodbine, a Trinidadian who helped The Beatles to achieve fame, but who sadly was written out of history. They worked in the shipyards, the hospitals, the buses and the schools. Against the daily struggles and common racism, they built our city and claimed it as their home.
Today, we honour their courage and celebrate the legacy they built. In so doing, we reject again the disgraceful “island of strangers” narrative that has reared its ugly head recently, evoking the shadow of Enoch Powell as he whipped up hatred against the Windrush generation and other migrants he invited to this country. Today is a reminder that our diversity is the best of us. For the sacrifice these immigrants made to better our country, we all owe them a debt.
With that in mind, I want to use the opportunity of this debate to call for swifter action to fix the Windrush compensation scheme. The Windrush scandal was a national disgrace. It was a deliberate and inevitable outcome of the Tories’ hostile environment policy, and a nightmare for so many who had come to this country as children—citizens who had worked their whole lives in service to our country and had always paid their taxes. The injustices these people still face are deeply felt. They are denied access to employment, healthcare and other services, often becoming homeless, and are even detained and removed from the country they have called home for decades. The scandal has had a chilling effect on the entire community, and many now fear coming forward to access services in case they face repercussions.
To date, the scheme has been incredibly slow and bureaucratic. Data from this time last year shows that 8,800 claims were made for compensation, only 2,600 of which had received payments. The Government have recently made more funding available for grassroots organisations to support claims through the Windrush scheme, but we still need to go so much further and faster. We need to adapt the recommendations made by the Williams review, rebuild trust and relations with the black Caribbean community and consider the implications of our current immigration policies, which risk a continuation of the hostile environment. Today, we reaffirm our fight against hostile immigration policies and celebrate our diversity as strength.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Clapham and Brixton Hill) (Lab)
I congratulate my constituency neighbour and hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) on securing this vital debate.
The legacy of Windrush and the plight of the Windrush generation is a matter very dear to my hon. Friend and her constituents, as it is to me and my constituents, not least because her constituency is home to Windrush Square, which sits on the edge of my constituency, and to which we both have the pleasure of making numerous visits throughout the year. Most recently, I had the pleasure of joining my hon. Friend and neighbour, along with our other neighbour and hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi), at the Windrush national vigil, organised by the Windrush National Organisation. This event brought together community members for a moment of reflection, remembrance and solidarity for the Windrush generation and their descendants, and provided an opportunity to acknowledge the profound contributions they have made to the fabric of our society. It is that aspect I want to focus on before coming to the Windrush scandal and compensation scheme.
I have spoken before in this Chamber about the role the Windrush generation played in not only rebuilding our nation, but transforming our society and culture. My constituency of Clapham and Brixton Hill was completely reshaped by the Windrush generation, with a legacy that is still evident in the people, the culture, the music, the art, the cuisine and in so many other ways. Beyond rebuilding our cities and enriching our culture, the Windrush generation played a crucial role in shaping and sustaining the public services that we continue to rely on every single day. They were the nurses, midwives and doctors who formed the backbone of our NHS, often working long hours in difficult conditions to care for the sick and vulnerable. They were the bus drivers and train operators who kept our transport networks running, ensuring that Britain’s economy kept going. They were the teachers who educated generations of children, instilling in them the values of hard work and perseverance. They served in our armed forces, fighting for a country that did not always recognise them as equals. Their contributions were not just significant—they were indispensable. Without them, Britain would not be the country it is today.
We in this House often speak of the values of tolerance, diversity, resilience and community—what we call British values. The Windrush generation embodied those values through their courage, determination and unwavering belief in a better future, but they were not always treated with those same values in mind. Their influence runs through the fabric of our nation, and we must ensure that their contributions are not just remembered, but celebrated, honoured and upheld for generations to come. We have to celebrate them, but we must also understand and remember that the Windrush generation were not always treated with the dignity and respect that they deserved, and that has to be as much a part of our commemorations as anything else.
Those who travelled across oceans to come to Britain did so thinking they were coming to a mother country that would welcome them with open arms. Instead, they were met with hostility, discrimination and barriers to opportunity. They were denied housing, turned away from jobs for which they were over-qualified, and often made to feel unwelcome in the very nation they had come to help rebuild. Many of them and their descendants faced similar treatment during the appalling Windrush scandal.
It was very much a scandal of the previous Government’s making. The Mother of the House, my right hon. Friend the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott), recently gave a lecture in this very building as part of the Windrush summit. I remember the immigration legislation that caused all the problems and led to the Windrush scandal unfolding. I remember the Mother of the House standing in this House and warning the Home Secretary at the time that if the Government passed the legislation, it would affect people they had not intended it to affect—people who looked different to a number of people across this country. She was pointing to the black community and saying that the legislation would be applied in a way that would cause this scandal, and it did.
I remember when the scandal was brought to the fore. I remember the news at the time and the people coming forward with individual cases. I pay tribute to the Mother of the House, because it was she who led the first urgent question on the issue, and it was she who continually brought the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister to the Dispatch Box to apologise, repeatedly—until one of them ultimately paid the price with her job and until certain guarantees were made and we started with the review. The previous Government took some steps towards recompensing people for how they had been treated, and that was important, but for so many—me included—it never felt as though there was genuine remorse for the pain, humiliation and torment inflicted on the Windrush generation. It never felt as though the Government at the time truly cared.
I am pleased that that seems to have changed. The Minister for Migration and Citizenship was the first Government Minister to visit Windrush Square and joined us at the vigil in April. It did not go unnoticed that this token of respect for the Windrush generation was one that no previous Government Minister had ever displayed. I am so pleased that the Government have now taken steps to re-establish the Home Office’s Windrush unit, which will focus on the action needed to ensure that the Windrush scandal is never repeated. I am also pleased that the Home Office is recruiting a Windrush commissioner. I hope the Minister can update the House on the progress of that appointment.
Most importantly, the Minister has stressed that the Government are committed to a fundamental reset for the Windrush generation. I hope that the Minister will outline clearly what steps the Government are taking to bring about that reset. Unfortunately, it does not seem from the current immigration legislation going through this House as if lessons have been learned from Windrush. One thing the Mother of the House mentioned in her recent lecture is that we should be careful not to romanticise the issues of the Windrush generation, because the scandal continues.
Windrush Day is great, but justice would be better. The Windrush monument is great, but justice would be even better. The funding being given to community organisations—it is not much, but it is some—to push these issues is great, but in comparison to the compensation that should be paid, it is not enough, and again, justice would be better. While it is nice that the grants and bits of support are going ahead and that we talk about the Windrush generation more, the Home Office must not think that that is a substitute for the justice that the Windrush generation have continually been denied. The Home Office must not think that we do not notice that far too many have died before regularising their status and before receiving a penny of justice. It has not gone unnoticed, and it must be resolved.
The Windrush generation deserve nothing short of our respect and gratitude for the role they have played in British society. I hope that the Government will begin to lay the groundwork to demonstrate that, and not just with pomp and platitudes but with the justice that they have been denied for far too long.
Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)
It is an honour to speak in the debate and to mark Windrush Day 2025. It is a day of reflection, recognition and pride. In Huddersfield, we are proud of our rich, diverse communities, shaped in no small part by those who came here as part of the Windrush generation and their descendants. Families made their homes in our town and have worked in our hospitals, on our buses, and in our textile mills and factories. They have helped to build not only our local economy but the very fabric of our communities, and established a number of dominoes clubs in the town, too. They include many people from Carriacou in Grenada—we have one of the largest diasporas outside Grenada—as well as communities from Jamaica and St Lucia. Their contributions continue to shape the cultural and civic life of Huddersfield today.
Windrush Day gives us a chance to honour that legacy, but it must also remain a call to action, especially when so many of those who gave so much continue to be denied justice. For this year’s commemorations in Huddersfield, there will be a powerful new documentary series by Kirklees Local TV as part of its groundbreaking Windrush wise words project. The documentary captures the stories of 16 Caribbean descendants, preserving their lived experiences for future generations and shining a light on the contributions and challenges faced by our Windrush communities and their descendants.
Events like the Deighton carnival provide an incredible local celebration of African Caribbean culture and continue to showcase the vibrancy, pride and legacy of our communities in Huddersfield. Venn Street was once home to legendary sound systems that put Huddersfield at the heart of the UK’s reggae scene in the 1980s. Gregory Isaacs, Jimmy Cliff and Desmond Dekker all played at Venn Street. More often than not, artists would come to Huddersfield direct from Jamaica, though some might do one show in Birmingham or London.
It is vital that we celebrate those stories, but we must also confront the ongoing injustices that many still face. I previously raised in the House the case of a constituent who has been struggling to access the Windrush compensation scheme. Like many, he did not have access to support or legal aid. The process can be complicated, confusing and deeply frustrating for those seeking justice. Sadly, his experience is not unique. Across the country, many eligible individuals still do not know that they can apply, and others are deterred by the scheme’s complexity. Some are navigating ill health or grief but are expected to work through layers of bureaucracy to get the redress that they are owed. I welcome the Minister’s response to my question in the Chamber, and the subsequent assistance offered to my constituent. I know that she is committed to getting this right.
The Labour Government have made it clear that the treatment of the Windrush generation was a profound injustice. We must do everything in our power to ensure that everyone affected is treated with dignity and can access the support and compensation they deserve.
Deirdre Costigan
I have learned a lot about my hon. Friend’s constituency from her speech. She mentions the difficulties that victims of the Windrush scandal have had in accessing support and getting the compensation that they deserve; in fact, many of them have been afraid to go to the authorities, because it is those same authorities that treated them that way in the first place. Does she welcome the £1.5 million that the new Labour Government have put into the advocacy support group, which will help smaller, local advocacy groups and community groups to assist people in accessing the compensation that they deserve?
Harpreet Uppal
I do welcome that. I was about to turn to the subject funding outreach in places like Huddersfield; that funding will be important. We must ensure that local organisations can play their part, because they know best who to reach out to, but they must have institutional support. We must also embed cultural change in the Home Office, so that these injustices never happen again.
The Windrush generation did not just arrive in Britain; they helped to shape it. They made our NHS possible. They raised their families in our towns and cities, and they contributed to the growth of our economy. They have contributed so much to Huddersfield, the town I live in. They have endured discrimination and hardship, yet they have stood proud, contributing with dignity and determination. As we mark Windrush Day this year, let us move beyond words. Let us match our tributes with action, and ensure that justice is delivered, not delayed.
Florence Eshalomi (Vauxhall and Camberwell Green) (Lab/Co-op)
I pay tribute to my constituency neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes), for her powerful introduction to the debate. She referenced areas of her constituency that I know like the back of my hand, because they are where I grew up. Growing up in Brixton, there were things that I recognised from an early age. I recognised that the place was special and unique. I recognised that in the midst of all the chaos, it seemed to work well. I recognised that it embraced so many people from so many different communities. I think about people with my heritage, from Nigeria, mixing and interacting with the Irish, Portuguese, West Indian, Spanish, Latin American and white community. All those different communities are mixing in the melting pot that we know and love as Brixton.
It was really important, and such a testament, to see Windrush Square unveiled in the heart of Brixton. It is a place that gives so many people a sense of belonging and somewhere to commemorate and celebrate our vital Windrush community. Sunday’s Windrush Day is another chance for us to celebrate and recognise the contributions of the Windrush generation to our communities, and to the whole of our country, as my hon. Friend the Member for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal) just said.
Last year, I had the honour of welcoming the now Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary to the Windrush celebrations in Oval in my constituency, not too far from here. At that event, my hon. Friends the Members for Dulwich and West Norwood, and for Clapham and Brixton Hill (Bell Ribeiro-Addy)—my other constituency neighbour—and I met the pioneers of the Windrush generation who had built the communities that I grew up in around Brixton. These communities gave us the strength and resilience to face challenges, and a belief that we could make change when we worked together. Windrush Day is a source of pride in the communities that have been built through that hard work and determination.
As much as Windrush Day is a celebration, we must not lose sight of the challenges that this generation have gone through. Too often, these communities have been built in the hard fire of adversity, and nothing represents that more than the Windrush scandal. It saw many members of the Windrush generation, people who had been in this country for decades, being denied the most basic rights. This led to people losing their home and their job, and even being denied medical treatment. Can you imagine the scandal? Some of them must have known that their grandmother or grandfather had worked in those same hospitals. At least 83 people ended up being wrongly deported from this country that they called home.
Disgracefully, as we have heard, many of those who were victims of the scandal are still waiting to receive compensation. The Independent reported last year that at least 50 people had died waiting for compensation. Following this Windrush debate, the Government must work to speed up the compensation scheme, as I know my hon. Friend the Minister is doing. They must reach out to people who understandably do not feel comfortable engaging with the Government and the Home Office. I urge the Government to ensure that the Windrush victims have the right legal support, so that they feel able to get the money that they deserve.
The Windrush scandal did not have its roots in the 2010s. It started in the discrimination and racism that the Windrush generation experienced when they first arrived in the UK. It started when some of them arrived by train at Waterloo station in my constituency. The station is home to the national Windrush monument, which was unveiled on 22 June 2022 by Prince William and Catherine. The statue depicts a man, a woman and a young child, with their suitcases, in their Sunday best. That is what the Windrush generation did: they dressed up in their Sunday best to come to this country to help serve it. The statue was designed by Basil Watson. I urge Members who have not visited it to do so. On the side of the statue there is a poem by Professor Laura Serrant entitled “You called...and we came”, reliving that call to action—the call to duty that many of the Windrush generation rightly answered.
I want to mention the Mary Seacole statue. I think back to early June 2017, when I was pacing up and down the maternity ward of St Thomas’ hospital, trying to get my son to come out. He was almost two weeks overdue. Looking down from the eighth floor and seeing that statue of Mary Seacole, I thought about the many women from the Windrush generation who had committed so many hard years to working for our NHS. Through the 12-year Mary Seacole appeal, members of the community raised vital funds to ensure that the statue was erected. It was formally opened by another great pioneer and child of the Windrush: Baroness Floella Benjamin, who sits in the other place.
Another statue in my constituency is the “Bronze Woman” at Stockwell war memorial, just by the roundabout. According to records, it is the first statute depicting a black woman. It was erected in 2008, and I had the honour of attending the unveiling, as a councillor. It depicts a woman holding a child in the air. It shows the power of the Windrush, which runs through my constituency and many others.
As hon. Members have highlighted, we cannot again make the same mistakes that happened during the Windrush scandal. While we have made progress, we know that racism has not completely disappeared from our society. We need to ask ourselves how it can be right that we still see health and race inequalities in our NHS, and how it can be right that some of our black and minority ethnic communities continue to live in bad-quality accommodation. We must not treat the Windrush scandal in isolation, and we must not, as a Government, make the same decisions in our policymaking that led to the Windrush scandal in the first place.
I urge the Government to be extremely careful when they carry out their review of citizenship later this year. We must not put arbitrary barriers in the way of those arriving in our country. We must not say to people who work day in, day out, as our nurses and our carers—jobs that essentially keep this country going—that they have less of a right to become a citizen. Doing that will entrench further inequalities in our country. It will deny people who pay taxes and help run our public services a say in how those services are run. That cannot be the aim of this Government, and we must never introduce hostile policies like those that led to the Windrush scandal in the first place.
Clive Lewis (Norwich South) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for opening this timely debate—she made a fantastic speech—and hon. Friends for their contributions.
I want to touch on the story that Windrush tells of this country. Stories are important; the stories we tell ourselves define us as a country. It is right that we celebrate the Windrush generation and their contribution, but as other speakers have said, there is a dark side to this story. I do not want to be too negative, but I want to touch on some of that dark side, because it is important and instructive, given where we find ourselves, as a country and a world. I would not be standing here today as a black Member of Parliament if one of my ancestors in Africa had not been abducted and put on a slave ship. For generations after that, my ancestors were beaten and made to work in the most terrible conditions to make money for someone in this country, or for their slave master in the Caribbean. Yet because of those ancestors, I stand here today. History is complicated—I think we can agree on that—but that does not mean that we should not try to unpick it.
Looking around at my colleagues, I must say that it is politically fashionable in some quarters to say that many of us are recipients of DEI—diversity, equality and inclusion policies—that we have been gifted our places, and that anyone who comes from the black community, is a women or has tendencies or sexualities that are not seen as the norm has been gifted their position. Anyone who understands the Labour party selection process will know that is not the case. In fact, many of us faced a double whammy—we are both working class and black. It takes a lot to get into this place, and yet we are here, and we are not going anywhere.
I remember back in 2021, when the Conservatives, who were here on the Government Benches, under Boris Johnson, produced the disgraceful race report. I think they want to forget that. I would be interested to hear what the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross), thinks about that report now. It said that structural racism does not exist, it is a figment of our collective imagination, we have effectively been dreaming about it for 400 years, and there is no link between empire, slavery and the racism that stretches from that all the way to the Windrush scandal and beyond.
Indeed, that notion of outsiders—of foreigners—figures in much of our immigration debate to this very day. What is racism? It is a hierarchy of worth. We see it all around the world in conflicts: “If you are from this part of the world with this ethnicity, your worth is this much, but if that is your ethnicity, your worth is that much and you can take that much suffering. And if you’re up here, you don’t need to suffer; you’re part of the elite.” That is what racism is: a hierarchy of suffering. We cannot forget that it is real and allow people to tell us that our history is something in which only good things happened, where things were shiny and nice, and that we had an empire to help and develop the rest of the world.
I remember when I was going on the ITV breakfast programme, and I had to have a chat with the producer beforehand. He said, “Clive, you do realise that the railways in India have helped India to get into the 21st century and to industrialise? The British built those railways.” I replied, “You know, you’re right, but that is why it’s so complicated. Do you think for a second that the British built the railways in India for the benefit of the Indians?” The answer is no; they built them to extract vast wealth from India, and it just so happens that the Indians can now use that railway network to industrialise and make themselves richer. History is complicated.
I will finish with this. There is a movement around the world; in Germany, in Europe and, dare I say it, in the United States, whose President believes that a genocide is happening in South Africa—really, he believes that, and he is coming here for a state visit. All around the world, there is an attack on history—on good history. Good history is complicated; it tells a complicated story about this country and its past. I have served this country knowing full well its history in empire, knowing full well its history in slavery. I have served it because I love this country, warts and all. I do not need to tell myself a story about this country being perfect in the past and only doing things for the good. I love it, warts and all, because it has given me and my family, friends and community so many opportunities.
My dad was welcomed to this country by my mother’s English family. The trade union movement welcomed him. Our history is complex. The Labour party is complex. The country is complex. History is complex. Let us never forget that, as we go forwards. We must understand that history is complex for a reason because—and this moves me—we are all human beings, and human beings are complex themselves. That is why our history is complex and that is what we need to understand. As we move forward, talk about Windrush, celebrate Windrush Day, and pass legislation in this place about black people, about immigration and about asylum seekers, let us remember our complex history and try to do better in the future.
Dawn Butler (Brent East) (Lab)
It is always a pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for Norwich South (Clive Lewis). History is written by the person holding the pen. That does not necessarily mean that it is the history of what happened at the time; it is told through a specific lens. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for instigating this important debate on Windrush.
My Brent East constituency is one of the most diverse constituencies in Europe. On that point, as this is the first time I have spoken in the Chamber today, I send my condolences to everyone affected by the plane crash in India, as many of my constituents have been. Ultimately, what affects one, affects us all.
The Windrush ship brought people from Jamaica, Trinidad, St Lucia, Grenada and Barbados. As my hon. Friend the Member for Clapham and Brixton Hill (Bell Ribeiro-Addy) said, many served in the British armed forces in world war two, so they were owed something by their mother country.
I will talk a bit about my mum. My hon. Friend the Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) talked about people coming over in their Sunday best. If we look at those pictures, we can see how crisp and sharp their suits were, with shirts that were sparkling white. They were proud—so proud. We had our playing out clothes, our school clothes, and our church clothes, and never the three did meet. We were taught an inherent sense of pride in ourselves. We were not allowed to eat on the street, because that would give the impression that we did not have food at home. We were not allowed to carry clothes in a plastic bag, because they called that a scandal bag in Jamaica, so we had to have a proper cloth bag. We were taught so much.
We washed every day, which might seem like a weird thing to say now, but my parents would tell me that they had only washed once a week because they had to go to a wash house. We had to wash every single day. We also washed our meat and our chicken before we seasoned it—and the seasoning was more than salt and pepper; salt and pepper were an accompaniment. What was brought from the Caribbean is more than some people appreciate, because it is now taken for granted.
When we went to other West Indian people’s homes, we would find lots of things in common, like hand crocheted doilies on the chairs and on the table. My mum used to crochet little ducks and dip them in dye so they had little red beaks. It was so inventive. Nowadays, we would pay a fortune for that skill. All our clothes were bespoke; I would be embarrassed that my mum made my clothes, but now I would love my mum to make my clothes to measure. Now I have grown up, I realise that the things that we were taught to be almost ashamed of when we came here were actually very special—very unique and grand.
The reason we would find the same picture frame in West Indian people’s homes is that there was only one photographer who would take pictures of black people and frame them. Pictures of weddings kind of looked the same then, because there was only one place that would do that for the West Indian community. That is how West Indian people were treated in a place that they called the motherland.
The Windrush scandal was about not just the loss of employment, the loss of access to benefits, homelessness and the loss of access to housing, or the loss of access to healthcare and education. As my hon. Friend the Member for Liverpool Riverside (Kim Johnson) said, the system was deliberately structured to make sure that black people did not progress by labelling them as educationally subnormal—to stop their ability to work and earn. It stopped people buying their house or sending their child to college, which a lot of West Indian people had done.
The reason only 2,000 people have claimed is that there is a lot of shame that comes with that; the West Indian community is a very proud community. That is why we have to instil Labour values from a Labour Government in how we readdress what has happened to the Windrush generation. It has been an absolute scandal. Around 50,000-plus people have been affected by this issue, and some will die. Some have died, and some will die before they see justice. We must speed up progress.
The scheme was not a light-touch design, as the then Government said it was. It was something like 45 pages, and although they said that people did not need a lawyer, they did because it was so complex. I am ashamed that not one Back-Bench Member of His Majesty’s Opposition has come to this debate. This is not a niche debate; this is a debate about hundreds of thousands of people who came to this country to rebuild it, who were invited here, and Opposition Members have not even had the decency to come here and contribute—and they are the cause of the scandal and injustice.
I will end as I began. Martin Luther King said that what affects one affects us all, because that is the interrelated structure of society. We are all intertwined in life’s journey, and as racism is increasing in some parts of the country and people are trying to divide us, I hope that we remember—on Jo Cox day—that we have more in common.
Mrs Sureena Brackenridge (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)
I thank my hon. Friends for their speeches and stories from their constituents. They have been incredibly insightful as well as heartbreaking, but that is exactly why we are here. I am sincerely grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for giving us the opportunity to bring the House together to honour the Windrush generation, and those whose courage, resilience, and extraordinary contribution helped rebuild post-war Britain. Let us be clear: they answered a call. They worked hard and grafted, and they helped to shape the very fabric of the country we know today.
We see examples of that generation’s legacy in Wolverhampton, embodied in the life and work of so many people, like Professor Mel Chevannes—an inspirational role model who, when elected in 1981 as the city’s first African-Caribbean councillor, went on to chair the social services committee and later became the first African-Caribbean chair of the Royal Wolverhampton NHS trust. Her leadership, her service, and her example not only opened doors but shattered glass ceilings. This weekend, Wolverhampton will pay a lasting tribute to Professor Chevannes with the unveiling of a bronze bust—a permanent reminder of the power of representation and the enduring contribution of the Windrush generation to our public life.
Today is not only about celebration; it is also about justice, because for too many the Windrush story includes real pain. The Windrush scandal inflicted deep harm on people who had every right to live here—people who built their lives here and served our communities, but were betrayed by a system that refused to see their humanity. We saw that pain in the story of the late Paulette Wilson—a Wolverhampton resident, and a cook who once worked in Parliament, in this very House. Paulette came to Britain as a child and spent more than 50 years here, but in 2015 she received a letter declaring her an illegal immigrant. She was made homeless, her benefits were stopped, and in 2017 she was detained and sent to Heathrow for deportation to a country she had not seen in half a century.
With the swift action of my predecessor, my hon. Friend the Member for Wycombe (Emma Reynolds), who was Paulette’s MP at that time, working alongside the Refugee and Migrant Centre in Wolverhampton, and with Paulette’s strong determination, she fought back and she won. She was granted leave to remain. But more than that: she chose to speak out, becoming a voice for so many others who had suffered in silence. Her courage helped expose the systematic injustice at the heart of the Windrush scandal and force change. In 2021, a plaque was proudly placed at the Wolverhampton Heritage Centre, once the office where Enoch Powell wrote his divisive “rivers of blood” speech but now a thriving symbol of African-Caribbean heritage and real community spirit.
I welcome the fact that this Labour Government are forging ahead to deliver justice, launching a £1.5 million advocacy fund, re-establishing the Windrush unit, significantly reducing the time taken to allocate claims, and beginning the recruitment of a Windrush commissioner to ensure victims’ voices remain at the heart of Government policy. Windrush should not just be a chapter in our history; it has to be a call for action to challenge us to build a country grounded in fairness, shaped by justice and defined by a true sense of belonging for all. I commend the courage and resilience of Paulette and all our Windrush generation—the thousands of others who faced this rogue injustice—and hope that such atrocities can never happen again.
Madam Deputy Speaker (Judith Cummins)
I call the spokesperson for the Liberal Democrat party.
Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)
There have been some incredibly powerful speeches this evening, and I feel really lucky to be participating in the debate. There is a lot to celebrate, but there is an awful lot to be really angry about as well.
We owe an enormous amount to the Caribbean and broader black-British community for their contributions to our society, not least the Windrush generation’s key role in building the NHS, and in my own region, the black-Caribbean community’s role in profoundly shaping Greater Manchester’s cultural landscape and social fabric. In 1966, Louise Da-Cocodia became Manchester’s first senior nursing officer, having come from Jamaica in 1955. Confronted with relentless racism in her role, she channelled her experiences into activism, becoming a key anti-racist campaigner, and her legacy continues through the organisations she helped to establish.
In 1980, Kath Locke, a pioneering mixed-race community activist, founded the Abasindi Co-operative, a black, women-led community organisation based in the Moss Side people’s centre. It offered essential services, including a drop-in centre for the elderly, a community health hub and a Saturday school to tackle educational underachievement and high youth unemployment.
In 1991, the NIA centre, now the Playhouse theatre in Hulme, opened as the first large-scale arts venue in Europe dedicated to African and Caribbean culture. Its inaugural event featured none other than the legendary Nina Simone. Today, the Chuck gallery in central Manchester continues that legacy by showcasing and celebrating Afro-Caribbean and African art. It works to foster greater understanding and appreciation of Caribbean artistic perspectives.
Here in the UK, far too many people’s lives are still blighted by prejudice, discrimination and inequality. Racism is still far too prevalent in our society. We all have a responsibility to recognise that reality, but also to recognise the role that we can play in challenging that injustice. I am proud that the Lib Dems are committed to fighting for racial equality, and that means unequivocally condemning racism in all its forms and tackling injustice wherever we see it.
In her opening, very powerful remarks, the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) rightly laid out that the previous Government failed to deliver the justice that Windrush victims so deeply deserve. The Government dithered and delayed on implementing the recommendations of Wendy Williams’ lessons-learned review. Liberal Democrats will keep pushing the Government.
Clive Jones (Wokingham) (LD)
The Windrush generation made a huge contribution to the life and the economy of the UK, but I want to pay tribute to the Hong Kong community in my constituency of Wokingham and across the United Kingdom, who I am sure will make the same contribution to the UK. I am deeply concerned that the Government are piling uncertainty and worry on British Hongkongers through their reforms to indefinite leave to remain. These people, who are living here in Britain, already fear retribution from China. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government should have their back and maintain the five-year pathway for British national overseas status holders?
Lisa Smart
I am very grateful to my hon. Friend for raising the huge contribution of Hongkongers in his constituency. I have asked the Minister before about some of the changes the Government propose to the time period for indefinite leave to remain. The Minister has answered that a consultation is under way, and I am sure that she will talk about that in her closing remarks. I feel that we need to value the contribution made by those who are new arrivals in our country, and I agree with my hon. Friend’s comments.
The Liberal Democrats will keep pushing the Government to right the wrongs forced on to the Windrush generation, including by urgently implementing the lessons-learned review in full and making the compensation scheme independent of the Home Office. Like the hon. Member for Clapham and Brixton Hill (Bell Ribeiro-Addy), I hope very much that the Minister is in a position to update the House on the progress being made on righting those wrongs and delivering justice.
The Lib Dems have long pushed for the implementation of a comprehensive race equality strategy, which would include provisions aimed at reducing the disproportionately high and utterly shameful maternal mortality rates for black women and for eliminating racial disparities in maternal health, as other right hon. and hon. Members have mentioned this evening.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I want to have a point on the record, as it is very important to do so—I was talking to the Parliamentary Private Secretary beforehand, and I talked to the Minister earlier on. On behalf of Windrush people who got their status in Northern Ireland, I will say that the Windrush scheme for Northern Ireland enabled people to work and remain and to have equality with the rest of us. I put on record our thanks for that scheme, because those in Northern Ireland who came through the Windrush scheme were enabled to help our country and Northern Ireland be a better place because of the culture, history, and interaction and social action that they bring.
Lisa Smart
I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his comments. Each successive generation that arrives on these shores, as people have done for millennia, has added to our rich cultural and social fabric. He is absolutely right to highlight his part of the world and the impact that people have had in his community.
On the things that we should also look at, I will say that we should end the disproportionate use of stop and search. We should also look very carefully at the use of live facial recognition, which is most likely to wrongly identify black men and women.
In so many ways, we are holding this debate because of the tireless campaigning of many of the Windrush generation, not least the Liberal Democrat peer, my noble Friend Baroness Floella Benjamin. Floella’s journey is emblematic of the Windrush generation. She arrived in Britain from Trinidad in 1960 at the age of 10, accompanied by three of her siblings. Her childhood was marked by persistent racism; she recalls every day as a battle where she was either ignored or subjected to verbal abuse. During a house viewing, neighbours called the police, accusing her family of stealing furniture from what would soon be their own home.
Floella, of course, was not alone. Many children of her generation endured those indignities in silence, shouldering the burden of rejection by clinging to the hope that life would one day improve. Leaving school at 16, she chartered an extraordinary path—first as an actress, then as a presenter, writer, independent producer and always a tireless advocate for the care, education and welfare of children worldwide. Today, she chairs the Windrush Commemoration Committee, which is charged with establishing a lasting tribute to the Windrush generation and its descendants. Among the Committee’s notable achievements is the unveiling of the national Windrush monument at Waterloo station, which was designed by celebrated Jamaican artist Basil Watson, as mentioned earlier by the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi). The monument stands as a powerful symbol of the immense hardship and equally immense contributions of the Windrush generation to British life. Floella’s voice remains a powerful one, holding the Government to account to ensure that the Windrush generation receives the recognition and justice that it so rightly deserves.
I believe it was Floella who first proposed the idea of Windrush Day as a national celebration of the moment when Caribbean communities came to rebuild Britain in the face of adversity. It is thanks to her determination that we are able to mark this occasion and speak of it today. As well as being the giver of the best hugs in Parliament, she is a celebrated author, using her experience to educate future generations with her writing. It is right that we celebrate Floella and all the Windrush generation today.
Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)
I thank all the Members who have made contributions to today’s debate. I am particularly grateful to the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for bringing the debate before the House, giving Members a chance to speak about their and their constituents’ experiences of, and with, the Windrush generation.
As noted by the then Prime Minister, Clement Attlee, in a letter to MPs, those first arrivals on the Windrush were expected to make a genuine contribution to addressing the UK’s post-war labour shortages. The story of the Windrush generation that followed is both troubling and inspirational, with many accounts of exceptional resilience and the overcoming of adversity. I want to be very clear: it is important that we acknowledge when the state fails its citizens. The treatment of some Windrush citizens was an unacceptable failure that successive Governments must own. That is why the previous Conservative Government apologised unreservedly and took decisive action. It was critical that the last Government established the compensation scheme. Over £100 million was granted in compensation to those affected, with over £93 million having been paid out, and that figure continues to rise as more claims are settled under this Government.
Clive Lewis
Does the shadow Minister believe that the Windrush scandal was an aberration—a few bad apples over a few decades—or was the cause structural racism?
Harriet Cross
I think that Windrush and other scandals that have plagued our society are a stain on the UK. Whether the cause was, as the hon. Member said, a few bad apples or any other reason, the fact remains that we have to take action to address the issue that was created. We must ensure that those who were affected are compensated, that those who were affected and cannot be compensated are recognised, and that measures are put in place so that it cannot happen again. That is what I am interested in. I was not here in the last Parliament—that is not an excuse, but all I can do is my very best to ensure that injustices are not repeated in future.
As I was saying, the compensation scheme has paid over £93 million, and that figure continues to rise. We hope the Government will continue to ensure that those settlements are paid.
However, as we look forward to this year’s Windrush Day, while we must reflect on and learn from past injustices, we should also reflect on and honour the contributions of this remarkable generation. The noble Baroness, Lady Benjamin, who chaired the Windrush Commemoration Committee, spoke in a parliamentary debate about the importance of celebrating the positive aspects of Windrush Day. While for some, that name will forever be associated with scandal, I welcome the efforts of communities and members of the Windrush generation to reclaim it in a positive light. Many campaigners want the term “Windrush” to represent, not the scandal, but the vast and very many contributions made to the UK by this generation. As His Majesty the King noted when meeting members of the community on the 75th anniversary of the ship’s arrival, this was an “indomitable generation”. He said:
“History is, thankfully and finally, beginning to accord a rightful place to those men and women of the Windrush generation.”
A critical element of that recognition is commemoration, and—as we have heard—we should be grateful for the work of Basil Watson, whose magnificent national Windrush monument stands as a powerful tribute to the community. As the hon. Member for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi) reflected, its location at Waterloo means that thousands of people pass it every day, a constant reminder to those departing or arriving at the station. When the decision was made to locate that monument at Waterloo, officials said that the decision was taken because it was where thousands of Windrush pioneers first arrived in London before starting new lives across the UK. For many members of the Windrush generation, Waterloo was not the end of a journey, but the beginning of a new life in this country and of the many contributions that they would go on to make. A former Minister at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government captured the essence of the monument:
“Basil Watson’s sculpture perfectly captures the spirit of Windrush. In it we see the strength, hope and expectation of those who arrived with little and yet gave so much.”
Of course, that statue—while symbolic—is only one part of the broader support provided.
As Members will recall, in 2020 the previous Government launched a fund to support community-led initiatives celebrating Windrush Day. That funding was intended to enable projects across England to commemorate the Windrush generation and their descendants. It formed part of a wider effort to recognise the Windrush generation’s lasting contribution to British society, and I am pleased to see that the funding continues in 2025, with 30 projects supported under the current grant scheme. I understand that the Government have dedicated £4.25 million in funding towards honouring the Windrush legacy.
In addition, while the Government have a vital role to play, the 75th anniversary also saw a wide range of private contributions, from events and exhibitions to documentaries, articles and much more.
Jim Shannon
It should also be recognised that drama and TV have a way of enriching the Windrush story. I think of probably my favourite programme—it is perhaps the hon. Lady’s favourite programme—“Call the Midwife”, which shows the drama of the Windrush scheme through the people in that programme, what they endured and what they have given to society. Does she recognise that drama and TV also can tell the story of Windrush in a great way?
Harriet Cross
I thank the hon. Member for that. Television, drama and even radio and other non-visual means can show the story in a lot better light than anyone making a contribution at this Dispatch Box or in this Chamber. Seeing these things in real life, in colour and out in the streets is the way to bring them to life and to make sure that we recognise every day how the community is completely entwined in our society. The 80th anniversary in a few years’ time will be another opportunity to commemorate the enduring impact of this generation and to encourage further works from those in the creative industry who play such a vital role in shaping the public consciousness.
Although today has been chosen as an appropriate moment to hold this debate in advance of Windrush Day on 22 June, commemorations need not be limited to anniversaries or milestones. I am confident that those involved will continue to highlight and educate others about the vital role that individuals played, their resilience and their ability to overcome adversity.
More broadly, today allows us to reflect on the Windrush generation’s contributions to our institutions, industries and, importantly, our communities. It is worth remembering that HMT Empire Windrush was transporting dozens of Caribbean passengers who had served as RAF airmen—many returning from leave and others rejoining the service. Many more from this generation and their descendants would go on to serve our country in our armed forces. That is in addition to the countless individuals of the Windrush generation who helped build and sustain the NHS, particularly when post-war UK had an acute workforce shortage. That is not to mention the enormous contributions across so many other fields, including science, education, social work, business and countless others.
I acknowledge the Government’s ongoing work to address the injustices that occurred in the Home Office. There are still claims to be resolved and payments to be made, and challenges remain in overcoming the consequences of past errors. We cannot change the past, but we can ensure that the schemes established by the previous Government continue to deliver for every eligible person. I welcome the fact that Patrick Vernon and Baroness Benjamin and others campaigned for a Windrush Day. It has given us all the opportunity to focus on the stories of those who came to this country and contributed so much, sharing how they came to Britain, how they were shaped by it and how they have helped shape it in turn. That is vital. As such, I thank Members for sharing their experiences and those of their constituents in the debate.
The Minister for Equalities (Seema Malhotra)
I start by thanking my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) for securing this debate and all Members who have spoken in an incredibly powerful and moving discussion. That includes my hon. Friends the Members for Ealing Southall (Deirdre Costigan), for Liverpool Riverside (Kim Johnson), for Clapham and Brixton Hill (Bell Ribeiro-Addy), for Huddersfield (Harpreet Uppal), for Vauxhall and Camberwell Green (Florence Eshalomi), for Norwich South (Clive Lewis) and for Brent East (Dawn Butler). I also thank the shadow spokespeople, who made powerful contributions.
I will try to refer later in my speech to a number of the points that have been raised, but let me first thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton North East (Mrs Brackenridge) for her stories about Professor Chevannes and Paulette Wilson, which, like so many stories told during the debate, were very powerful. I also want to acknowledge Basil Watson’s wonderful sculpture, and the story that it tells to all who come and go through Waterloo station. When my hon. Friend the Member for Brent East spoke about her mother, I think we all recognised a little bit of her mother in all our mothers, and I am sure that her pride in her mother would have been reflected very much in her mother’s pride in her and her contributions.
This Sunday marks 77 years since the Empire Windrush arrived at Tilbury. Along with the thousands of others who came to the United Kingdom from the Caribbean and countries across the Commonwealth in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, they became known as the Windrush generation. They and their children and grandchildren have enriched our society in myriad ways, and we owe them an enormous debt of gratitude. On Windrush Day, we celebrate them and their extraordinary achievements and contribution to our economy, communities, society and culture; but we also acknowledge the appalling and humiliating treatment to which many members of the Windrush generation were subjected owing to the actions of past Governments.
Let me say, clearly and without equivocation, that the Home Office Windrush scandal was a travesty that caused untold pain and suffering. There has been much talk about righting the wrongs, but words alone are not enough, and this Government are backing up our promises with action. We promised a reset when we were in opposition, and since the general election we have sought to strengthen engagement with victims, their families, communities and stakeholder organisations. I have regularly met many organisations, including the Windrush National Organisation—I pay tribute to Bishop Desmond Jadoo, and I was honoured to join a very powerful vigil with some of my hon. Friends in April—and Windrush Defenders Legal.
From London to Manchester and from Cardiff to Edinburgh, I have heard victims describe how their lives were turned upside down, about the trauma they went through, and about the impact that the scandal is still having on their lives. As we have sought to embed a culture of listening and learning throughout the Department, we have worked to improve training and standards, as well as publishing the report “The Historical Roots of the Windrush Scandal” last September. I am clear about the fact that the lessons we learn should inform our ways of working across Government.
In April, the Home Secretary and I were honoured to host the Windrush Cymru Elders for a special screening in the Home Office, with Professor Uzo Iwobi and Race Council Cymru, of the BAFTA-nominated film “Windrush Cymru @ 75”. Last week we were proud to host the first day of the National Windrush Museum’s annual summit, led by Dr Les Johnson and Denize Ledeatte—a powerful summit addressing the theme of “reframing Windrush and justice for a new Britain”. We will very soon announce the appointment of a new independent Windrush commissioner, underlining this Government’s unwavering determination to ensure that the voices of the Windrush generations are heard, their experiences are acknowledged, and proper compensation is delivered.
We are committed to improving the Windrush compensation scheme to ensure that those to whom compensation is due receive the support that they deserve quickly. In opposition, we frequently heard that the application process was too complicated, with insufficient support for those wishing to make a claim.
The Government are determined to ensure that the victims of the Home Office Windrush scandal are heard, that justice is sped up, and that the compensation scheme is run efficiently and effectively. We have already made changes to the casework processes, reducing waiting times for the allocation of claims from four months to under six weeks. In April, we launched a £1.5 million advocacy support fund to provide dedicated help from trusted community organisations when victims apply for compensation. However, we recognise that there is much more to be done, which is why Ministers are continuing to engage with community groups on improvements to the compensation scheme, and we will ask the Windrush commissioner to recommend any further changes that they believe are required.
I want to address two points that were made in the debate. The first is about people who unfortunately passed away after submitting a claim—we are aware of about 64 claimants. In these very difficult circumstances, the teams continue to work closely with their appointed representative, who is usually a member of the family, to ensure that claims continue and are concluded as quickly as possible. We prioritise those claims where we are notified that individuals are suffering from critical or life-limiting illnesses, and officials are reviewing the current exclusion in the rules on compensation for private and occupational pensions. We are working at pace to consider options for how we can compensate for these losses, and working closely with the Government Actuary’s Department to support this critical work.
The Windrush story has resonance for us all, and for communities across the country. I am pleased to tell the House that this Government have supported this year’s commemorations through the Windrush Day grant scheme, which is chaired by Paulette Simpson and works with my noble Friend in the other place, the Minister for Faith and Communities. We are funding projects to celebrate and commemorate the Windrush, and to educate people about it. We are funding the National Windrush Museum to collect and preserve precious assets for future generations, and as a great educational resource for schools, researchers and the wider public.
Dawn Butler
My hon. Friend the Member for Clapham and Brixton Hill (Bell Ribeiro-Addy) talked about the Government giving a little bit of money for this and that. I am really pleased to hear about the Windrush Museum. Will the Minister consider setting up an emancipation educational trust, so that we can have a building where we can talk not only about the injustice of Windrush, but about the injustice of people being enslaved?
Seema Malhotra
I thank my hon. Friend for her comments, and I am very happy to talk about these issues further. She will know that the Migration Museum documents history through some very powerful exhibitions.
It is so important that Windrush Day events are happening across the country, with community festivals, live music, workshops, talks, films and so much more, and I am looking forward to marking Windrush Day this weekend—both with the Caribbean & African Health Network in Manchester and at the Big Caribbean Lunch in Brixton, where I hope to join my hon. Friend the Member for Dulwich and West Norwood (Helen Hayes) in Windrush Square. I pay tribute to the work of Ros Griffiths and the Friends of Windrush Square, based in my hon. Friend’s constituency.
In this debate and those in recent years, we have heard the powerful and vivid accounts of people’s experiences since the 1940s, including on the 75th anniversary, on which His Majesty the King described those who stepped off the Empire Windrush at Tilbury in 1948 as “pioneers”, which is exactly what they were. Through their hard work, sacrifice, togetherness and unbreakable spirit, they endured against a backdrop of racism and discrimination that we know existed at the time. But more than that, they thrived. On the railways, roads and construction sites, in our armed forces, factories and fledgling NHS, and in so many other sectors, they helped Britain get back on its feet. They helped rebuild this country, its infrastructure and our public services.
However, Windrush is not merely a prosaic story of service rendered at a time of national need; it is so much more than that. It is a story of a community that became indelibly etched into the very fabric of our social tapestry, and a story of art, music, literature, language and cultural enrichment. Put simply, it is the story of British life being changed for the better.
To wrap up, I again thank all Members who have spoken. I also pay tribute to those who have been mentioned in the debate, including Baroness Benjamin and my right hon. Friend the Member for Hackney North and Stoke Newington (Ms Abbott), who, in this House and the other, have arguably done more than any others to advance the Windrush cause and highlight its importance to our national identity.
This debate has been a powerful and poignant reminder of the countless ways that this country has been strengthened by the Windrush generation and their descendants, and the enormous debt of gratitude that we owe them. Their contributions span every facet of our society. Put simply, Britain would not be Britain without them, and under this Government, they will always get the respect, thanks and support that they deserve.
Helen Hayes
I thank all hon. Members who have contributed to the debate. We have heard from many different areas of our country—from Yorkshire, Merseyside, Manchester, East Anglia and the west midlands—and we have of course had great representation from north and especially south London. We have had powerful contributions paying tribute, reflecting thoughtfully on the complexity of our history, and speaking about the injustices that the Windrush generation have endured.
Although this has been a very consensual debate, it was disappointing that there was so little recognition from the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Gordon and Buchan (Harriet Cross), of the faults of the Windrush compensation scheme. For many of my constituents, engaging with the scheme has truly been a nightmare, because the threshold of proof was so high and the process so complicated. I thank the Minister again for her commitment to engaging with Windrush campaigners, and to putting right the wrongs of the past.
Finally, I wish everyone who is celebrating this weekend a joyful and meaningful celebration that acknowledges and celebrates the Windrush generation, gives strength to our communities, and creates friendship, acceptance and togetherness, making less space for racism and injustice.
My hon. Friend the Member for Brent East (Dawn Butler) mentioned our dear friend Jo Cox, who was murdered by a right-wing racist nine years ago today, and whose voice we still miss in this place. I end with Jo’s words: we
“have far more in common than that which divides us.”—[Official Report, 3 June 2015; Vol. 596, c. 675.]
If we can live out that truth, we can continue to make the progress that our communities need to see.
Question put and agreed to.
Resolved,
That this House has considered Windrush Day 2025.