For the past few weeks pressure has been growing on the British government over its persecution of the "Windrush generation". People who legally came to the UK, lived there their entire lives, and had a permanent right of residency are being treated as illegal immigrants because the government deliberately destroyed the records that would enable them to prove otherwise. The tories have tried to portray this as an unfortunate accident, an unforseen consequence of their hate policies towards refugees. But it turns out that they knew all along that this was happening:
A letter from a Home Office minister dated May 2016 and obtained by the Guardian shows that the government has known for years about the impact of its “hostile environment” policy on the Windrush generation.
[...]
The letter set out that Johnson was liable to be deported despite having lived in Britain for 45 years because he could not show that he had arrived before 1973, when the law changed. Nor could he provide the documentary evidence the Home Office demanded of continuous residence over other periods in the 1980s and 1990s.
In 2014 he was told he was here illegally, and his benefits were stopped.
Asked about the letter on ITV’s Peston on Sunday programme, Brokenshire – who is now on the backbenches and has been receiving treatment for lung cancer – said he had not seen the letter before.
...which is odd, because he signed it. But its another example of how these dirty racists are trying to dodge responsibility for the known and foreseeable outcomes of their own racist policies.
The good news is that the government appears to be backing down, and has promised citizenship and compensation to its victims. Good. But I'll believe it when I see the legislation, and I'm sure they'll find some equally vile way to prevent people from taking it up in practice.
