Latest news with #WindrushGeneration
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Another Windrush generation man has UK deportation order revoked
A Windrush generation man who was wrongly excluded from the UK by the Home Office has had his deportation order revoked in the second case of its kind to come to light in the space of a week. Gersham Williams, 74, who first arrived in the UK in 1961 at the age of 10, was deported in August 2016 after being convicted of and serving a sentence in relation to a firearms conspiracy conviction. He has now had his deportation order revoked after the Home Office told him he should have been exempt due to the date he arrived in the UK, which was before the Immigration Act 1971. That law granted indefinite leave to remain to many Commonwealth citizens settled in the UK. However, while the rest of his family became British citizens, Williams decided he did not need to obtain a British passport because, he said, Jamaica was 'ruled by the Queen of England' at that time. His case follows that of Winston Knight, who had lived in the UK for 47 years before being deported. The Home Office agreed to fly Knight back to the UK after accepting he was a member of the Windrush generation and revoking his deportation order. Knight lived on the streets of Jamaica for more than a decade. Williams's solicitor, Jacqueline McKenzie of Leigh Day, said: 'I am of the view that cases like these are probably amongst many.' McKenzie said she was asking the Home Office to 'intensify its efforts' to provide information on people from Commonwealth countries who were settled in the UK before January 1973 and who were deported, in order to 'start an effective programme of outreach and engagement'. She also called for the government 'to agree to a statutory inquiry so that we can understand not just the causes of the Windrush scandal, but review its ongoing manifestation'. Williams is in a state of poor health in Jamaica, with neurological and urological problems. He has difficulties walking and has struggled to survive there. Although the Home Office has revoked his deportation, before being removed from the UK Williams had received an IPP – imprisonment for public protection – sentence. Officials have warned him in a letter that due to his IPP sentence, he could be sent back to prison on arrival in the UK. The letter states: 'You will therefore be liable to be returned to prison to serve the remainder of your sentence.' Speaking from Jamaica, Williams said he did not accept that the conviction that led to his deportation was sound. 'When I was in the UK the police would never leave me alone, that's the reason I'm in Jamaica now,' he said. 'The Home Office has accepted they were wrong to deport me but I'm not returning to the UK to go back to prison. I don't belong there. I want to get an assurance from the UK government that I can come back here as a free man. I have not committed any crimes in my nine years in Jamaica. My priority is freedom of movement.' Williams was politically active when he was living in Ladbroke Grove in west London, helping to establish Grassroots, a bookshop and centre for black art and culture. He trained as a youth and community worker and helped support young black people subjected to police harassment. He attended the 11th World Festival of Youth and Students in 1978 in Cuba alongside people such as Paul Boateng, now a Labour peer. He befriended Winnie Mandela on her visits to London and she invited him to Nelson Mandela's inauguration. 'I come from injustice and I still speak truth to power,' he said. The Guardian published a report about a July 1983 conviction received by Williams and two others for an armed hold-up of a petrol station. The court heard that he had described himself as a Robin Hood raising money for community projects and told police: 'You people sold my people into slavery and I'm fighting back.' McKenzie said: 'Each day that passes worsens the injustice for this family because Mr Williams is elderly, unwell and has been living in very austere conditions. I hope all arrangements will be now put in place, swiftly, to reunite him with his loved ones.' A Home Office spokesperson said: 'It is our longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases; however, it is also this government's determination to ensure that all those affected by the Windrush scandal are treated with the upmost care and consideration in their future dealings with the Home Office, and that principle will guide our approach in all such cases.'
The Guardian
16-05-2025
- The Guardian
UK agrees to fly home wrongly deported Windrush generation man from Jamaica
The Home Office has agreed to fly home a member of the Windrush generation who lived in the UK for 47 years before being wrongly deported and forced to live on the streets of Jamaica in horrific conditions for more than a decade. In a highly unusual move and after protracted legal action, Home Office officials have accepted that Winston Knight, 64, is a member of the Windrush generation and have agreed to revoke his deportation order. Speaking to the Guardian from Kingston, Jamaica, Knight said he was delighted to finally be on his way back to the UK after more than a decade of enduring horrific conditions on the streets. 'I'm doing much better now I know I have won my case and will be returning to the UK. But I am coming from hell. I have been living in a war zone in Kingston and I've had some very tough days.' He is likely to be back in the UK in the coming weeks, possibly before Windrush Day on 22 June, which celebrates the contribution Caribbean migrants and their families have made to the UK. It marks the date in 1948 that HMT Empire Windrush docked in Tilbury, Essex, bringing hundreds of passengers from the Caribbean to the UK. Knight was deported from the UK in 2013 after he was convicted of stealing a piece of jewellery during the 2011 riots in what his lawyers described as an 'opportunistic mistake'. He arrived in 1966 aged six, brought here by people unrelated to him. He experienced a difficult childhood in south London, was not allowed to attend school and later worked on construction sites. The lack of school and employment records made it difficult for him to prove he had been 'ordinarily resident' in the UK in 1973. Like all Citizens of the UK and Colonies – a status granted before 1983 – he was granted indefinite leave to remain. But his lawyers had to carry out painstaking work to track down eye witnesses who remembered him from his childhood and could corroborate his account of the time he arrived in the UK. When he was unlawfully deported in 2013, the Windrush scandal revealed by the Guardian had not yet emerged. Knight said that he was so desperate when he was detained in Harmondsworth immigration removal centre, near Heathrow, about the prospect of being forcibly returned to a country he knew little of, that he repeatedly attempted suicide there. But his deportation went ahead despite his fragile mental state and he found himself street homeless on the streets of Kingston where he has been caught in the crossfire of gang warfare. The violence he witnessed has left him deeply traumatised, he said. The Guardian reported on his case in 2018 and interviewed him in Kingston. At that time he asked for his real name not to be used and instead to be referred to by David Jameson. He brought a judicial review arguing that he was exempt from deportation, and just hours before the final hearing on 15 May the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, conceded that Knight was a member of the Windrush generation. Sign up to The Long Wave Nesrine Malik and Jason Okundaye deliver your weekly dose of Black life and culture from around the world after newsletter promotion Nina Kamp, a consultant solicitor at Duncan Lewis Solicitors who represents Knight, said: 'Mr Knight has suffered unimaginable harm being homeless in an extremely volatile environment for over a decade with no support. The physical and psychological toll is profound and will take years to repair. Astonishingly, the home secretary has still offered him no apology for the historic wrong her department inflicted.' She added: 'This case ranks among the gravest Windrush injustices we have seen –not only because he was excluded for 12 years, but because the home secretary clung to an indefensible position until the very last moment, needlessly prolonging and compounding his suffering.' Knight is being put up in a hotel before being returned to the UK. 'For the first time since I was deported here, I'm sleeping in a bed,' he said. I witnessed so many murders and stabbings and saw so many people being beaten. I survived by eating vegetables from the market, bread and bananas. I've received a lot of abuse in Jamaica being called 'English' and 'deportee'.' He said one of the things he has really missed about England were his days playing football in a Sunday league with friends in New Cross Gate, south London. 'I would love to do that again and get back to work doing painting and decorating,' he said. 'I'm a working kind of guy. 'I have had a lot of ups and downs here, mostly downs, but now I'm coming back to England I feel great. Thank God I survived. I was calling out for years but nobody listened to me.'
BBC News
04-05-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
'Place and people now gone' caught on camera by city snapper
A self-taught photographer has said he hopes images he took capturing life in Bradford's African Caribbean communities in the early 1980s can eventually find pride of place in a museum in his home photographs by Victor Wedderburn, who is now 70, reveal a snapshot of life in Manningham towards the end of last century and are currently on show in his first ever public exhibition as part of this year's City of Culture Wedderburn said he hoped the photos could eventually go on display in the National Science and Media Museum in said: "I was right when I thought it was important to take these pictures. It's of a place and people that have now gone." Mr Wedderburn arrived in the UK from Jamaica in 1971 at the age of 16 to join his Windrush Generation he was later made redundant from his driving job at Crofts Engineers, he used his pay-off to buy a second-hand camera and kit to develop an atmosphere of racism and community tensions, he set about documenting everyday life in Bradford as he saw it. His colour photographs of landmarks on Lumb Lane such as Roots Record Shop, the Young Lions Cafe and the Perseverance Hotel remained unseen for after publishing them online and getting a positive response they also came to the attention of the Bradford City of Culture 2025 team. The images show everything from sound system parties to anti-apartheid marches and shine a light on a sometimes neglected part of Bradford's multi-cultural history. Mr Wedderburn, who still lives in Bradford, explained: "This community doesn't exist anymore, people have moved on."When you go to the area now, it's completely different. It's completely changed. "We miss it of course, but that's life." Mr Wedderburn's pictures are currently on show in his first ever public exhibition, Frontline 1984/1985, which runs until Sunday 11 May in the Gallery at the Loading Bay in said that once that exhibition was over, he hoped they could find a permanent home."For the photographs, I'm hoping - or the plans are - that they go to the photographic museum in Bradford," he said."And, who knows? But I hope they get exhibited elsewhere. That's the plan." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Roundabout renamed to honour Windrush generation
A roundabout has been renamed to honour the Windrush generation following a heartfelt request from a Barbados descendant. Peter Small, from Reading, approached councillors to suggest planting a tree to commemorate the Windrush generation's contribution to the town. That simple idea blossomed into the planting of five palm trees on the roundabout at the intersection of the Inner Distribution Road (IDR) and Chatham Street in the town centre. The Mayor of Reading, Councillor Glenn Dennis, who is himself a descendant of the Windrush generation, said: "This is an historic moment in Reading's story, and a proud moment to serve as mayor of this town." Soon after Mr Small's idea, Sherwin Springer proposed renaming the roundabout to reflect the significance of the Caribbean community in Reading's history. Dozens of people from the Windrush generation, representing islands across the Caribbean, gathered on the roundabout to mark the occasion on Tuesday 29 April. Among them was 92-year-old Dorothy Grace Brown, an arrival from Barbados. Mr Dennis said: "The naming of this roundabout recognises the dedication and spirit of generations of people who travelled far to answer the call after the war and who made Reading their home. "It is a tribute to all those who have worked in healthcare, engineering, manufacturing, retail, transport, and many other sectors contributing tirelessly to the life and growth of our town. "Above all, it reflects the deep appreciation of Reading for the Windrush community, who continue to make a valuable and lasting contribution to our society." He unveiled a new sign and said it was a "proud and symbolic moment" celebrating the rich cultural heritage. Councillor Wendy Griffith said it was a "lovely tribute". She added: "The planting of trees on the roundabout, and renaming of the roundabout, have come about through some positive ongoing discussions between residents and councillors, which is a great example of how we can work together to reflect the wishes of our residents. "I'm so pleased that we have been able to honour the Windrush community in this way, with an excellent location so that many people will get to see it." You can follow BBC Berkshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. Windrush generation tree is 'chapter in history' Windrush Generation celebrated in 'Enigma of Arrival' What is Windrush Day? Reading Borough Council Caribbean Associations Group Local Democracy Reporting Service
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
King Charles Reveals His Surprising Music Taste in New Playlist, Featuring Artists Like Beyoncé, Bob Marley and Kylie Minogue
King Charles is revealing his music favorites. The King, 76, shows off a somewhat eclectic mix of musical go-tos in The King's Music Room, a show curated for Apple Music, that premieres on Mar. 10. Based around a Commonwealth theme, the music choices are Charles' own, and listeners get a sense of both his enthusiasm for the music, and how, through his charming comments, he has a remarkably good radio voice. Through his choices, the royal praises artists such as Beyoncé and Kylie Minogue for their support of his King's Trust (formerly the Prince's Trust), and remembers his travels to the Caribbean, where he met Bob Marley and his widow Rita Marley. Charles also recalls seeing Raye perform at the Apple HQ in Battersea in December. (PEOPLE understands he is now learning more about the artist and playing her music.) Here, read more about Charles' music loves, as discussed in The King's Music Room. In the intro, Charles includes a rendition of the song played by the King's Guard at Buckingham Palace, before playing the actual tune by late singer himself. Charles praises Marley's 'marvelous, infectious energy, but also his deep sincerity, and his profound concern for his community." "I always recall his words: 'The people have a voice inside of them, ' " he adds. The Jamaican-born singer was one of those who came to the U.K. as part of the Windrush Generation of the late 1940s, and 'whose gifts have so greatly enriched our country,' the King says. This song, Charles says, 'is music for dancing." "Again, it has that infectious energy which makes it, I find, incredibly hard to sit still," he adds. "There is such an irresistibly joyous feeling to that song.' The track is a song from the 1920s-1930s era that "reminds" Charles "of my much-loved grandmother, because she used to play these sorts of music a lot." The royal adds that the tune "also never fails to lift my spirits.' Charles says he and his wife, Queen Camilla, have known Jones "for some time." "I had the great pleasure of seeing recently at a reception at the St. James's Palace," he continues, then asking: "Is it possible to improve on such a classic song?" Related: i-Reign! King Charles Turns to Apple Designer for Coronation Emblem 'She is a great ambassador for British music,' Charles says of the artist. With a connection to Ghana, which Charles last visited in 2018, he says, 'I found myself dancing along' to this track. The King points out that this song 'features lyrics in pidgin, which I love in all its forms, and in which I attempted to make a speech when I last visited Nigeria." He adds, 'I understand that, thanks to Afrobeats, it is becoming ever more popular around the world.' Highlighting how the track is in the Xhosa language, Charles quips, 'I shan't try too much to pronounce the title, as it requires a great deal of practice!' Holland is another British musician the royal has known for years, alongside the 'unstoppable phenomenon' of soul singer Turner. Charles says he likes the sitar playing in the song for being 'deeply redolent of the ancient culture of India.' The royal celebrates how the Malaysian artist sings 'about love that is stronger than time.' The song holds special meaning to Charles, as the New Zealand opera great performed it at his wedding to the late Princess Diana. Bublé — who recently dined with Charles' son Prince Harry and Meghan Markle in Vancouver — is Charles' pick to represent Commonwealth country Canada on the list. From Monserrat, the King says of the title: 'When I last visited the island, it certainly was." Charles thanks the musician for her work helping support the Prince's, and now, the King's Trust, before congratulating Beyoncé for winning her first album of the year award at the 2025 Grammys last month. The song, Charles says, is one of his 'particular favorites." 'When I was much younger, it was absolutely impossible not to get up and dance when it was played," he further explains. "So, I wonder if I can still just manage it?" Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? to get the latest updates on , and more! Charles is head of the Commonwealth, a loose coalition of 56 countries — including Australia, Canada, India and Kenya — that have strong ties to the U.K. and span much of the world. On Mar. 10, he will lead the royal family, including Prince William and Kate Middleton, during a service at Westminster Abbey. 'This seemed such an interesting and innovative way to celebrate this year's Commonwealth Day,' Charles says in the show. Related: King Charles Is Playing DJ in an Unexpected Collaboration with Apple Music: 'It Brings Us Joy' The King's Music Room is now available to watch for free, or view anytime on demand with an Apple Music subscription, on Apple Music 1. Additional radio broadcasts will be available to stream for free on Apple Music 1 and Apple Music Hitson March 10 and March 11. Read the original article on People
