THE “woeful” compensation scheme for Windrush scandal victims must move faster amid “unacceptable” delays in payouts, according to a campaign backed by Baroness Doreen Lawrence and singer Annie Lennox.
The Justice4Windrush campaign is demanding “full and swift compensation” for victims, as the five-year anniversary of the scheme’s launch in April 2019 approaches.
Less than a fifth of the victims of the Windrush scandal have been paid the compensation they were promised five years ago after they were denied access to healthcare and benefits and threatened with deportation despite having the right to live in Britain.
The government promised to right the wrongs of what had happened but the compensation scheme has been repeatedly criticised for the slow speed at which claims are processed.
Just over £75 million had been paid out by the end of November, according to the latest data, published by the Home Office earlier this month.
Of the claims in the system by the end of November, 13 per cent had been waiting at least a year to be processed.
Backing the campaign, Outlander actor Colin McFarlane called the compensation scheme “woeful” that “added insult to injury and merely prolonged the trauma and is yet another illustration of decades-long discrimination by the Home Office against migrants of colour.”
He added: “We need justice for the Windrush generation, now.”
Ms Lennox said the issue should be “front and centre, to ensure that the Windrush generation are seen, heard and healed” and called for “an immediate stop to the tragic injustice of this Home Office scandal."
Other high-profile supporters include actress Hannah Waddingham and television presenter Jay Blades.
A Home Office working group dealing with the aftermath of the scandal was wound up last year.
The campaign, which has published an open letter demanding action, said the reinstatement of the working group “is crucial."
The letter, sent to both Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, urged the political leaders to pledge full compensation to Windrush victims as part of their forthcoming general election manifestos.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government remains absolutely committed to righting the wrongs of the Windrush scandal and making sure those affected receive the compensation they rightly deserve.”
