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Prit Patel today admitted that “unacceptable” failures were responsible for the “terrible injustices”of the Windrush scandal, after an independent review called for ministers to apologise to the entire black population of Britain.
The Home Secretary said she was “truly sorry” for the harm inflicted on families torn apart by the wrongful deportation of people of Caribbean origin who were British.
Her apology came as Wendy Williams, an inspector of constabulary who carried out the review, said ministers should prove the sincerity of their apology by introducing sweeping cultural changes within the Home Office.
Ms Williams’s report made 30 recommendations for improvement and stated that the “forseeable and avoidable” scandal had inflicted “serious harm” on Britons of Caribbean origin.
Ms Williams added that although she was “unable to make a definitive finding of institutional racism” within the Home Office, the failings of ministers and officials “demonstrate an institutional ignorance and thoughtlessness towards the issue of race and the history of the Windrush generation within the department” that were “consistent with some elements of the definition of institutional racism.”
Ms Williams said:“The Windrush generation has been poorly served by this country, a country to which they contributed so much and in which they had every right to make their lives.
“The many stories of injustice and hardship are heartbreaking, with jobs lost, lives uprooted and untold damage done to so many individuals and families.”
Ms Williams said that she was not “naming and shaming” individuals responsible for the Windrush failures because they were systemic ones that had occurred over decades from the 1960s onwards.
But she said that ministers in successive governments had “set the policy and the direction of travel” and had failed to “question unintended consequences” adequately. Officials were also culpable for not doing enough to “examine, consider and explain the impact of decisions.”
On the need for an apology, Ms Williams states: “Ministers on behalf of the department should admit that serious harm was inflicted on people who are British and provide an unqualified apology to those affected and to the wider black African-Caribbean community as soon as possible. The sincerity of this apology will be determined by how far the Home Office demonstrates a commitment to learn from its mistakes by making fundamental changes to its culture and way of working, that are both systemic and sustainable.”
Other recommendations in her 275 page review published in Parliament today include a “programme of major cultural change for the whole department and all staff” within the Home Office and a review of training it gives for “unconscious bias” and “diversity and inclusion”.
She also calls for the simplification of immigration rules and the appointment of a “Migrants’ Commissioner” with the job of “speaking up for migrants and those affected by the system.”
Ms Williams also calls for a review and evaluation of the “hostile/compliant environment” policy towards illegal migration and whether it is “proportionate” given its “impact on British citizens and migrants with status.”
She adds that “the explicit intent and language of the hostile environment can be traced back to the Labour government of the late 2000s” and continued in a range of forms after that.
Ms Williams said that her report covered only migrants from the Caribbean affected by the Windrush scandal but that she wanted the Home Office to examine whether those from other former Commonwealth countries had suffered similar wrongful treatment.
She also called for an end to “dehumanising” terms such as “stock” and “flow” by the Home Office when discussing migrants.
