Victims of other injustices are treated better, says founder of ‘bittersweet’ Windrush Day
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.
