Windrush Day 2020

Debate between Ruth Jones and Luke Hall

Tuesday 23rd June 2020 Commons Chamber

[Luke Hall]

The Home Secretary updated the House today on the fact that over £1 million has been offered through the compensation scheme, and more payments are being made each week. While this is progress, and claims continue to be processed as quickly as possible, the Home Office is committed to getting more people to come forward and claim. That is exactly why we are setting up the new working group and community fund. We encourage all those who are eligible to apply for compensation to do so. We completely understand how integral this is to our work as we move forward to try to right the wrongs of the past.

We also want to publicly acknowledge how the Windrush generation have enriched our nation’s history, so we are constructing a permanent monument at Waterloo station that will be a tribute to the generation that has come to be defined more broadly than the original pioneers who arrived in 1948. It will be erected in London but will stand as testament to the contribution of Caribbean migrants in communities across the United Kingdom. It will create a permanent place of reflection and inspiration for Caribbean communities and the general public. It will be a symbolic link to our past—a permanent reminder of shared history and heritage.

[Ruth Jones]

I appreciate that statues are lovely, but people who are watching outside want to know when they are going to get their money. They have waited a long time; they need to know. Will the Minister give a timetable?

[Luke Hall]

That is exactly the purpose and point of the measures that the Home Secretary has announced—to make sure that this work will be brought forward speedily and accurately. I understand the hon. Lady’s concerns, but I do think it is right to put on record the importance of things that can be done, like the permanent memorial. I know that the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood has been a passionate advocate for having the national memorial in her constituency. I hope that she accepts the Government’s rationale for having it at Waterloo station and the symbolic nature of that.