MP calls for legal aid to help ‘Windrush’ scandal victims
We will make this process much easier for those who have been affected.
Justice Secretary David Gauke,
THE WINDRUSH scandal has exposed one of the “cruellest examples of unaccountable state power targeting the vulnerable”, a Yorkshire MP has claimed, as Ministers faced fresh calls to provide legal aid to victims.
Shadow Justice Secretary and Leeds MP Richard Burgon took to the despatch box to demand free legal advice be offered as he branded current immigration law “complex and unintelligible”.
Justice Secretary David Gauke refused to commit to fund legal advice for those affected – instead telling MPs that a compensation scheme had been set up for “those who deserve it”.
The demands follow revelations that long-term residents who settled in the UK from the late 1940s to early 1970s had wrongly been identified as illegal immigrants.
People who had arrived in the UK before 1973 were automatically granted indefinite leave to remain but the Home Office did not keep a record of those allowed to stay or any documentation confirming their status.
While many of those who arrived have taken British citizenship or have official documents proving their status, others have struggled to source paperwork demonstrating they are lawfully resident. Mr Burgon, speaking during justice questions yesterday, said: “The Windrush scandal is one of the cruellest examples of unaccountable state power targeting the vulnerable, the defenceless and the innocent that I can ever remember.”
He added: “I was disappointed yesterday to hear the Home Secretary say that people affected by the Windrush scandal will have no need for lawyers. I’m sure the Justice Secretary will understand why the words the Home Secretary used won’t do. So, will the Justice Secretary guarantee today that all those put in this kind of situation will have access to the necessary legal advice to help them when they most need it?”
Mr Gauke responded: “The Home Secretary set out a comprehensive plan yesterday about how we will make this process much easier for those who have been affected by this issue.
“They are going to be able to obtain British citizenship for example much more easily, those who have retired back to another country are able to come here without great difficulties with visas, and so on.”
On Monday, Home Secretary Amber Rudd announced an emergency package of measures designed to resolve the crisis.