UK COULD PAY OVER 300M POUNDS IN WINDRUSH DISGRACE

UK Government could pay up to £310 million in Windrush compensation

The British Government may have to pay up to £310 million arising from the Windrush scandal, according to a report in the Sun newspaper.

Home Secretary Sajid Javid has reportedly told Cabinet colleagues that a compensation fund may cost that sum, and he’s warning the bill is so high, the Home Office will struggle to even launch the fund without extra cash from the Treasury.

It’s the first time the UK Government has put a figure on the likely redress for thousands of Commonwealth citizens – many of them Jamaicans – caught up in the scandal which erupted nearly a year ago.

Home Office insiders claim at least 15,000 may have a right to compensation for being wrongly deported, forced out of their job or losing access to benefits.

The Home Office launched consultations on a compensation scheme in July but was forced to rush out a small scale hardship fund in December ahead of the completion of the plan.

One insider reportedly revealed that a sub-committee within the Home Office had yet to even approve Mr Javid’s proposals for a full compensation scheme and it may not be ready until Easter.

Officials fear the delays will force those persons victimized to seek compensation through the courts, which would probably result in the government having to pay an even bigger bill given the legal fees.

British High Commissioner to Jamaica Asif Ahmad recently revealed that more than half of the British government’s Windrush Generation cases registered under the compensation scheme involved Jamaicans.