THE Equality and Human Rights Commission is launching legal action to review the Home Office’s “hostile environment” policy, which led to the Windrush scandal.

The watchdog said that it was using its statutory powers to carry out an assessment of whether the Home Office complied with its public-sector equality duty in drawing up the policy, which was devised when Theresa May was home secretary.

The policy of deterring illegal immigration continued under her successor, Amber Rudd, who was forced to resign in April 2018 after the scandal was exposed and she admitting having misled MPs.

The hostile environment resulted in thousands of Commonwealth-born immigrants of the so-called Windrush generation – those who came to Britain in the decades following the second world war –and often their descendents being denied their rights, losing their jobs, and in some cases being deported to countries that they barely knew.

The EHRC action follows a damning “lessons learned” review by inspector of constabulary Wendy Williams, published in March, which found that the Home Office had shown “ignorance and thoughtlessness” in dealing with immigration and race issues.

EHRC chairman David Isaac said: “We are working with the Home Office to determine what must change so that this shameful period of our history is not repeated.”

The EHRC said that its assessment would be completed by September.

Labour’s shadow justice secretary David Lammy was one of at least 80 MPs who referred the Home Office to the EHRC.

He said: “As a result of the hostile environment, thousands of black Britons were detained, deported, made homeless, jobless or denied healthcare by their own government.

“These were people like my parents, who came to this country after the second world war to help rebuild the UK’s crumbling public services, including the NHS.

“The government has admitted its own wrongdoing, but these black Britons deserve so much more than an apology.

“As the world demands action on racial inequalities, the Windrush generation need compensation that is actually paid out and structural change so that this gross injustice can never repeat itself.”

Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said: “It is an absolute scandal that the government allowed this situation to arise and unforgivable that it has failed to address quickly the deep hurt caused, including being so slow to process the compensation people are due.”

The Home Office said that current Home Secretary Priti Patel was determined to do all she could to “right the wrongs” endured by the Windrush generation.