Liberal Democrats mark Windrush Day

To mark Windrush Day today, Lib Dem Vice President Isabelle Parasram talks about why this day is significant for her.

The acting leader had this to say:

Other Lib Dem Parliamentarians marked the event

Over on the party website, Floella Benjamin wrote about the structural racism that still blights our society:

I came to Britain from Trinidad in 1960 when I was 10 years old and saw first-hand the sacrifices, hardships and challenges faced by the people who responded to that invitation. Those brave men and women arrived on our shores hopeful, but they were not met with open arms. Many encountered racism, discrimination, and rejection. Yet, they persevered. Children like myself also often had to face adversity and hostility on a daily basis, at school and on the streets. Some of those children are now embroiled and caught up in the Windrush Scandal. They are being asked after 50 years of being in Britain, to prove they have a right to live in this country, a place they have spent all their lives and call home. I too could have so easily been one of these victims had I not arrived here on my own passport.

The Windrush Scandal openly exposed deep-rooted failings in the Home Office and laid bare the injustices faced by the people who helped to make Britain the success it is today. This was recently portrayed so emotionally in the BBC drama ‘Sitting in Limbo’.

But the scandal isn’t over. Many people are still dealing with the consequences of lost jobs, home evictions and wrongful deportations. And although it’s been a year since the Windrush Compensation Scheme was launched, only a handful people out of over a thousand applicants have received payments. This is shameful and simply unacceptable.

The scandal isn’t over. Many people are still dealing with the consequences of lost jobs, home evictions and wrongful deportations

The last few weeks have once again exposed deep-seated racial inequalities. The disproportionate number of Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people dying in this pandemic and the killing of George Floyd, are a sharp reminder of the systemic and institutional discrimination in our society today.

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2 Comments

  • Lorenzo Cherin 23rd Jun '20 - 7:22pm

    Crucial and wonderful to see, and the article, as with everything from that lady, from Floella, is very poignant and eloquent

  • David Evans 25th Jun '20 - 9:46am

    Only one comment after two days on the biggest source of shame in our country’s recent history, perpetrated over a period of more than five years by a Conservative run Home Office under the leadership of Theresa May, sadly sustained in her position if not fully supported by Lib Dems during the time of the coalition government.

    We even had a Windrush motion at the Brighton conference in 2018 which was so anodyne and mealy mouthed that it refused to mention and condemn her by name, preferring to say

    “The blame for the recent shameful Home Office approach to the Windrush generation lies in the policy established by the Home Secretary in office from 12th May 2010 to July 13th 2016.”

    Sadly a proposed amendment to name (and shame) Theresa May in the wording of the motion was rejected by FCC, and as a result, no-one in the mainstream media even noticed what we said, including most Lib Dems.

    Now a bunch of people dump a statue of a slave trader in Bristol harbour and LDV has at least five articles with several hundred comments.

    Do we really want people to notice us?

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