Campaigner calls for judge-led public inquiry into Windrush scandal

A founder of Windrush Day has called for a public inquiry into the scandal amid this year’s “bittersweet” celebrations of Black Britons and their contribution to national life.

Patrick Vernon, who campaigned for the national day for nearly a decade before the government adopted it, said the mistreatment, detention and removal of Black Britons wrongly accused of being in the UK illegally had not been treated seriously enough.

Unlike the Post Office and infected blood scandals, Windrush was the subject of an independent review, which can recommend improvements but doesn’t have the power, scope and formal standing of a statutory public inquiry.

Windrush Day 2025, which falls on Sunday, marks the 77th anniversary of the arrival of the Empire Windrush, the vessel that brought passengers including ex-servicemen from the West Indies to new lives in the UK. They were the first of tens of thousands of workers from former British colonies who played a key role in rebuilding Britain after the second world war.

A minute’s silence will be held at this year’s events – after 12 months in which pioneering members of the postwar generation have died, including two passengers on the Empire Windrush.

The thinktank British Future said it was “a powerful reminder of their courage – and why it’s vital they are remembered in British history today”. Vernon said the deaths of elders and the injustice to Windrush survivors meant the commemorations were “bittersweet”.

He said: “We are witnessing the end of a living era. Significant Windrush pioneers have passed, two of whom were on the Empire Windrush – Alford Gardner, 98, and John Richards, who passed away at 96.

“We’ve lost Lord Herman Ouseley, who was born in the UK but was part of that generation; Sir Geoff Palmer; Nellie Brown, who died this month at 111, and Clover Samuels, the photographer. By the time we reach the 80th anniversary, how many of the original Windrush pioneers will be left?

“We need to make sure their stories are reflected in the national curriculum, encourage families to start documenting the elders and more oral history – at local regional and national level.“There needs to be a public inquiry. The last review made good recommendations, but because of the way people have been traumatised by the scandal, re-traumatised by the compensation scheme, died before they can be compensated, made homeless, or remain in the Caribbean and Africa, we need a judge-led, independent inquiry that has access to all the documents and can subpoena people.

“A lot of Windrush people are asking ‘why are we treated differently? If the Post Office and infected blood scandals can have a public inquiry, why can’t we?’”

At a Downing Street garden party on Wednesday to celebrate Windrush Day, with a steelband and rum cocktails, Keir Starmer, the prime minister, described the Windrush scandal as a “devastating injustice”, condemning the “humiliating treatment of people who’d done so much for our country”, saying he recognised that “the justice victims deserved had not been delivered.”

The Home Office has appointed the Rev Clive Foster as Windrush commissioner to advise on improving the compensation scheme. It says it is “determined to ensure victims are heard”.

Windrush Day events across the country include: a Caribbean festival in Alexandra Park, Manchester; the Big Caribbean Lunch in Windrush Square, Brixton; Forgotten Heroes, a production in Bristol about Black second world war veterans; and former footballers Gary Bennett, Howard Gayle and Reuben Agboola meeting supporters at the Fans Museum, Sunderland.