Suella Braverman faces backlash for rowing back on Windrush reforms

Published

2 years ago

January 26, 2023

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Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under fire for rowing back on reforms designed to prevent another Windrush scandal, with Labour’s David Lammy saying victims were being “once again spat on”.

Ms Braverman has confirmed she will not be implementing all of the accepted recommendations from a review into how the scandal unfolded, including establishing a migrant’s commissioner.

The cabinet minister has also decided not to increase the powers of the independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI) or to hold reconciliation events with the Windrush community – in a move branded “yet another betrayal”.

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The Windrush scandal erupted in 2018 when British citizens, mostly from the Caribbean, were wrongly detained, deported or threatened with deportation, despite having the right to live in the UK.

Many lost homes and jobs, and were denied access to healthcare and benefits.

A report into the scandal has since made 30 recommendations – all of which ex-home secretary Priti Patel accepted.

Patrick Vernon, who is organising this year’s 75th-anniversary celebrations of the Windrush generation’s arrival in Britain, said: “For the Home Secretary to be backsliding on government commitments to set right the injustices of the Windrush scandal – particularly in this anniversary year – is a slap in the face for those communities.”

The Windrush generation is named after the ship that brought hundreds of people from the Caribbean to the UK to help rebuild it after the Second World War, with the first one arriving in 1948.

The shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, tweeted: “Black Britons detained and deported by their own government are once again being spat on by the Conservative government.

“Suella Braverman’s animosity towards our shared multicultural future is trauma-inducing.

“Our country’s brave Windrush victims denied justice yet again.”

Wendy Williams, the solicitor who carried out the Windrush Lessons Learned Review, said she was “disappointed” Ms Braverman had reversed her predecessor’s promise, calling the scrapped recommendations “crucial external scrutiny measures”.

“I believe they will raise the confidence of the Windrush community, but also help the department succeed as it works to protect the wider public, of whom the Windrush generation is such an important part,” she said.

In a progress review published last year, Ms Williams warned that not having a commissioner would mean the department “risks undermining its stated commitment to transparency and effective policymaking, as well as the efforts to rebuild its reputation”.

But Ms Braverman said in a Commons statement on Thursday that “external bodies are not the only source of scrutiny” and that she would instead look to “shift culture and subject ourselves to scrutiny”.

On reconciliation events – proposed meetings between ministers, Home Office staff and those targeted during the scandal – Ms Braverman said she had been “persuaded that there are more effective ways of engaging with those impacted”.

‘Yet another betrayal’

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, accused Ms Braverman of failing to learn the lessons from the “appalling” scandal adding: “This is yet another betrayal of the Windrush generation in the 75th anniversary year.”

Ms Cooper pointed to failures to pay compensation “to those who were so badly wronged”, adding: “Four years after Wendy Williams’ review, just eight of its recommendations have been fully implemented and now some have been dropped altogether, including important safeguards to strengthen the borders inspectorate.

“The Home Office had an opportunity to put its apology to the Windrush victims into action, but it is tragic that the Home Secretary hasn’t learned the lessons of that appalling scandal.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “We are making progress towards the vast majority of recommendations from Wendy Williams’ report, and believe there are more meaningful ways of achieving the intent of a very small number of others.

“Through this work, we will make sure that similar injustices can never be repeated and are creating a Home Office worthy of every community it serves.”

World

Nine killed in Russian attack on civilian bus, Ukraine’s military says

Published

11 hours ago

May 17, 2025

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Nine killed in Russian attack on civilian bus, Ukraine's military says

A Russian attack on a civilian bus in Ukraine’s northeast Sumy region has killed nine people and injured four others, the Ukrainian military has said.

“Medics and rescuers have been urgently sent to the scene,” Ihor Tkachenko, head of Sumy’s military administration, said on Telegram.

Russia’s TASS state news agency said the defence ministry had claimed Russian forces struck a Ukrainian military equipment staging area in the Sumy region with drones.

The deaths prompted a strong response from Ukraine’s National Police on the Telegram messaging app: “This is not just another shelling – it is a cynical war crime”.

Ukraine’s police posted photos of a dark blue passenger van nearly destroyed, with the roof torn off and the windows blown out.

The attack comes hours after Russia and Ukraine held their first direct peace talks in three years.

The meeting of Russian and Ukrainian officials in Turkey on Friday failed to broker a temporary ceasefire.

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World

Up to a million Palestinians could be ‘permanently relocated’ to war-torn Libya under US plans

Published

15 hours ago

May 17, 2025

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Up to a million Palestinians could be 'permanently relocated' to war-torn Libya under US plans

Up to a million Palestinians could be permanently relocated from devastated Gaza to war-torn Libya under plans being worked on by Donald Trump’s administration, NBC News reports.

The idea has been discussed with Libya’s leadership, sources told Sky’s US partner network, and would potentially see billions of dollars in frozen Libyan funds released.

The North African country remains divided in two – nearly 14 years after the overthrow of dictator Muammar Gaddafi sparked a civil war – with two rival governments fighting for control.

It comes as Israel continues a campaign of airstrikes on Gaza, with 93 people killed and hundreds injured on Friday, according to local medics.

No final agreement on any Libya plans have been reached, sources told NBC News, and US government agencies did not respond to requests for comment from the news outlet.

Previous suggestions to resettle Palestinians from Gaza – voluntarily or otherwise – have provoked international outcry, particularly from Arab states who likely will play a role in rebuilding the enclave after any permanent ceasefire deal.

And Libya is far from a safe nation, according to the US State Department’s own travel advice, which says Americans should not travel to the country “due to crime, terrorism, unexploded landmines, civil unrest, kidnapping, and armed conflict”.

President Trump, speaking on the final day of his Middle East trip, said he was looking to resolve a range of global crises, including Gaza.

“We’re looking at Gaza,” he said. “And we’ve got to get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving. A lot of people are – there’s a lot of bad things going on.”

There had been hopes that his tour of the region could increase the chances of a ceasefire deal or prompt Israel to lift its blockade of Gaza that is preventing humanitarian aid from getting in.

But instead Israel has continued to launch airstrikes on the territory, killing more than 250 people in the last two days, according to Hamas-run health authorities.

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The Israeli military, which had dropped leaflets on the northern town of Beit Lahia ordering residents to leave, said their airforce had struck more than 150 military targets across Gaza in recent days.

This week, Israel said it had bombed the European Hospital because it was home to an underground Hamas base, but Sky News analysis has cast doubt on its evidence.

Israeli officials said the latest strikes were a prelude to a larger military campaign in Gaza aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages.

Ahmed Abu Riziq, founder of the Gaza Great Minds Foundation, which seeks to give children access to education in Gaza, said “the hell doors opened” in the last few days.

Speaking to Sky News from Gaza City, he said: “Myself with my family, we had to flee today from some certain areas in northern Gaza City… people are running in the streets. They don’t know where to go or where to sleep at night. So it’s really catastrophic.”

“No food is entering Gaza,” he added, saying that people are dying from hunger.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this month that Israel plans to seize all of Gaza and hold it indefinitely.

Tom Fletcher, head of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, warned the Security Council this week it must “act now” to “prevent genocide” – a claim Israel vehemently denies.

World

First Russia-Ukraine talks since 2022 agree POW swap – but last less than two hours

Published

15 hours ago

May 17, 2025

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First Russia-Ukraine talks since 2022 agree POW swap - but last less than two hours

Russia and Ukraine failed to agree to a ceasefire in their first direct talks since 2022 – as European leaders called Moscow’s approach “unacceptable” after the discussions lasted less than two hours and Vladimir Putin stayed away.

The meeting in Istanbul, Turkey, was set up at short notice on President Putin‘s behest, but he declined a challenge from Volodymyr Zelenskyy to meet him in person and instead sent relatively junior representatives.

A source in the Ukrainian team told Sky News that Russia had threatened “eternal war” during the talks.

They said the Russians were not ready to talk about technical details of a ceasefire and were waiting for superiors to approve them.

Latest updates on Istanbul talks

Both countries said they had agreed to trade 1,000 prisoners of war each in what would be the biggest such exchange yet of the conflict.

But Kyiv wants the West to impose tighter sanctions unless Moscow accepts a proposal from Donald Trump for a 30-day ceasefire.

President Zelenskyy said after the meeting that he had spoken to Mr Trump by phone – alongside Sir Keir Starmer and the leaders of France, Germany and Poland – who all met in Albania on Friday.

In a post on X, he said Ukraine was “ready to take the fastest possible steps to bring real peace” and that “tough sanctions must follow” if Russia continues to resist a month-long truce.

Frustration over Russia‘s perceived stalling in holding serious negotiations was also clear from the European leaders gathered in Tirana.

“The Russian position is clearly unacceptable, and not for the first time,” said Sir Keir.

“So as a result of that meeting with President Zelenskyy and that call with President Trump we are now closely aligning our responses and will continue to do so.”

The UK prime minister said the no-show by Russia’s leader was “more evidence that Putin is not serious about peace” and has “been dragging his heels”.

NATO secretary-general Mark Rutte, who was also in Albania, said President Putin had made a “big mistake” by sending low-level delegates to Istanbul.

A list of representatives ahead of the meeting listed presidential aide Vladimir Medinsky, deputy foreign minister Galuzin Mikhail Yuryevich and deputy defence chief Alexander Fomin.

Ukraine’s delegation was led by defence minister Rustem Umerov.

President Zelenskyy had called the Russian team “a theatre prop” ahead of the summit in the Dolmabahce Palace.

However, Turkey’s foreign minister heralded it as “an important day for world peace” and said Russia and Ukraine had agreed to swap 1,000 POWs each as a “confidence-building measure”.

Hakan Fidan shared a picture of the delegations and said they had “agreed to share with the other side in writing the conditions that would make it possible to reach a ceasefire”.

Russia’s Vladimir Medinsky said his team had “taken note” of the Ukrainian request for direct talks between Mr Putin and Mr Zelenskyy.

“We have agreed that each side will present its vision of a possible future ceasefire and spell it out in detail,” said Mr Medinsky.

Hopes ahead of the meeting were low after Mr Trump and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, played down the prospect of meaningful progress.

The US president told reporters on Air Force One on Thursday “nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together”, while Mr Rubio said a “breakthrough” was unlikely until the US and Russian presidents meet.

No date for such a meeting has been proposed, but Mr Trump has said it will happen “as soon as we can set it up”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that top-level talks were “certainly needed” but arranging it would take time.

Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov was a notable absentee, despite attending Ukraine-focused talks with the US in Saudi Arabia in February.

Russia has so far failed to agree to a 30-day unconditional ceasefire – proposed by European leaders who have threatened Moscow with “massive” sanctions if it doesn’t sign up. The US also supports the plan.

The Kremlin has ambitions to keep swathes of Ukrainian land as part of any long-term truce, an idea that Kyiv firmly rejects.

Russia also wants an end to Ukraine’s NATO ambitions and a promise it will stay neutral.