Should government be prosecuted for waiting for discrimination victims to die before paying compensation?
We’re seeing this too often for it not to be an established – unofficial – government policy. One that should be criminalised.
It seems that UK governments – of any colour – think that if they are found to have discriminated against UK citizens in such a way as to necessitate the payment of compensation, the best thing to do is delay any payments until the people requiring them have died.
Because then there won’t have to be a payout at all – right?
It’s a sick misuse of power and we need legislation to jail any MP or government official participating in it.
A former soldier who was a victim of the Windrush scandal has said he fears the government is “waiting for us to die off” before it pays compensation.
Conroy Downie, 67, and his daughter Katie Wilson-Downie have helped advise thousands of people affected by the Windrush scandal and have called for the compensation scheme to be run independently instead of by the Home Office.
The scheme was launched five years ago this week by the Home Office after widespread outrage over the Windrush scandal, in which thousands of British people, mainly of Caribbean origin, were wrongly classed as being in the country illegally. This led many to be wrongfully deported, lose their jobs and be denied access to healthcare and housing.
The charity Age UK said the delay in receiving compensation was “unacceptable, especially given that for many of the older applicants time is not on their side”.
The Home Office said it was committed to “righting the wrongs of the Windrush scandal and making sure those affected receive the compensation they rightly deserve”.
Obviously if any Windrush scandal victims die before receiving compensation payments, the Home Office will have worsened its wrongs.
Perhaps it should be made to pay increased sums to the relatives of deceased victims, the cash taken from the pay packets and bank accounts of those responsible.
