Suella Braverman faces backlash after rejecting Windrush reforms

Suella Braverman faced a backlash on Thursday after rejecting recommendations by the inquiry into the Windrush scandal to establish a migrants' commissioner.

In a written statement in the Commons, the Home Secretary said she would not be creating a migrants' commissioner to hold the Home Office to account, but would instead look to "shift culture and subject ourselves to scrutiny".

She said she had also chosen not to increase the powers of the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI) or to hold reconciliation events with the Windrush community.

Wendy Williams, the HMI inspector of police who led the inquiry, said she was disappointed that such "crucial external security measures" had been rejected, as she believed they would have "raised the confidence of the Windrush community".

Ms Williams said it would also have helped the department to "succeed as it works to protect the wider public, of whom the Windrush generation is such an important part".

'Missed opportunity'

David Neal, the current ICIBI, said it was a "missed opportunity" not to look at increasing the powers associated with his role.

"A role and remit review would have provided an opportunity to assess whether the level of resourcing provided to the inspectorate is appropriate," he said.

Patrick Vernon, one of the organisers behind this year’s 75th anniversary celebrations of the Windrush generation’s arrival in Britain, said it was a "slap in the face" for those communities.

The scandal erupted in 2018 when British citizens, mostly from the Caribbean, were wrongly detained, deported or threatened with deportation, despite having the right to live in Britain. Many lost homes and jobs, and were denied access to healthcare and benefits.

'Subject ourselves to scrutiny'

Announcing her decision, Mrs Braverman said that she had "decided not to proceed" with three of Ms Williams' recommendations "in their original format".

She said external bodies were "not the only source of scrutiny" and that she would look to "shift culture and subject ourselves to scrutiny".

Ms Braverman pointed to the creation of the Independent Examiner for Complaints (IEC) post in October as a way in which her department was "inviting ... challenge and scrutiny in a more efficient way".

On reconciliation events - proposed meetings between ministers, Home Office staff and those targeted during the scandal - Ms Braverman said she had been "persuaded that there are more effective ways of engaging with those impacted".

A Home Office spokeswoman said: "We are making progress towards the vast majority of recommendations from Wendy Williams' report, and believe there are more meaningful ways of achieving the intent of a very small number of others.

"Through this work, we will make sure that similar injustices can never be repeated and are creating a Home Office worthy of every community it serves."