Betrayed by red tape

ALBERT Thompson has lived, worked and paid taxes in Britain for 44 years since his arrival from Jamaica as a teenager. Yet now he has been betrayed by the country to which he has contributed so much.

Denied cancer treatment on the NHS – where his mother was a nurse – he even finds his right to remain here in question. And all because he has lost the passport on which he arrived, while the Home Office can find no record of him on his files.

Indeed, Albert is among thousands born to the ‘Windrush’ generation of Commonwealth migrants who face appalling treatment under grossly bureaucratic rules intended to root out those with no right to be here.

In a sickening twist, they are even denied the legal aid given to countless illegal immigrants fighting deportation.

This is why the Mail urges relaxing the burden of proof for those who arrived before 1971, when people already settled won indefinite leave to remain. There must also be more flexibility for those like Albert, who have paid taxes for decades but never naturalised. This is their country. We must stand by them.