Justice Knows No Hierarchy - Windrush Solidarity Statement

A Call for Equal Treatment for All Victims of State Scandals

Dear Shabana Mahmood, 

We, the undersigned lawyers, campaigners, advocates and academics who have fought for justice in the Grenfell, Hillsborough, and Windrush scandals, stand together to call on the UK Government to end the two-tier system of justice.

Our communities know too well the pain of state betrayal. We have seen loved ones die awaiting justice. We have fought for decades against cover-ups, institutional defensiveness, and a culture that prioritises protecting the government over repairing the harm done to innocent people.

That is why we speak with one voice today.

The Home Office Windrush Scandal: A Continuing Injustice

The Windrush generation helped rebuild post-war Britain. In return, they were wrongly detained, deported, denied healthcare and work, and stripped of their citizenship, homes and livelihoods by the Hostile Environment policy.

Seven years after the government's remedy to the scandal was launched, the Windrush Compensation Scheme, remains a profound failure. Recent evidence from JUSTICE with the University of Sussex and Dechert LLP lays bare the disparity:

• One woman was initially offered £300 by the Home Office. After receiving pro bono legal help, her award increased to £170,000. Another claimant went from zero to £295,000 with legal support.

• Claimants applying alone receive an average of £11,400. With legal advice, this rises to £83,200.

• Two-thirds (66%) of all applicants are initially refused any payment at all. The scheme's success rate is the lowest of any major state redress scheme.

• The application form is 44 pages long—more than four times longer than the form for child abuse survivors in Lambeth, and three times longer than the Post Office Horizon form.

Despite this evidence, the Windrush scheme remains inside the Home Office, the very department that caused the scandal. It offers no guaranteed legal assistance, forcing traumatised, elderly victims to fight alone against a system designed to minimise payouts. 

Why We Stand Together

Those of us who fought as or alongside Post Office Horizon victims know that public outrage led to guaranteed legal advice and less burdensome routes to compensation and a commitment to swift and fair redress.

Those of us who carry the legacy of Hillsborough know that without a statutory duty of candour and legal parity for families, the state will always seek to shield itself.

We fought and won those battles because we stood together and refused to accept less than full justice. We now lend our voices to the Windrush generation because justice cannot be conditional on the colour of your skin or the nature of the scandal.

Our Demand

We call on the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary to:

1. Move the Windrush Compensation Scheme out of the Home Office and place it under an independent body, overseen by a judge or independent commissioner.

2. Provide guaranteed, non-means-tested legal assistance for all Windrush claimants at every stage of the process.

3. Expand the scheme to include all losses and adopt a "soft edge" approach to evidence that recognises the difficulty of obtaining historical documents.

A Pledge of Solidarity

We, the undersigned, pledge to support the Windrush generation in their campaign for equal justice. We urge the government to learn the lessons of the past and apply them equally to all. There must be no hierarchy of victims.

We call on everyone who believes in justice to sign and share the Windrush Justice Community Collective petition demanding fair treatment for Windrush survivors. 

Signed,