Leaked review finds Home Office ‘reckless’ over failures around Windrush scandal
The Home Office has been accused of being “reckless” for failing to monitor the impact of its so-called hostile environment immigration policy, according to a leaked draft review into the Windrush scandal.
Channel 4 News and the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants obtained extracts from the review, which reportedly said the Government department “failed to monitor, or effectively evaluate, the effectiveness and impact of compliant environment measures”.
“This appears particularly reckless considering the significant warnings that the department was given about their potential consequences,” it said.
Wendy Williams, HM inspector of constabulary, who led the review, said that there was a “defensive culture that results in an unwillingness to learn from past mistakes”.
She wrote: “Whilst everyone I spoke to, was rightly appalled by what happened, this was often juxtaposed with a self-justification, either in the form of it was unforeseen, unforeseeable and therefore unavoidable… or a failure on the part of individuals to prove their status.”
Satbir Singh, chief executive of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, commented: “This review confirms what we at JCWI have said from the beginning: Windrush was no accident, but the inevitable result of a broken immigration system, driven by the divisive politics of scapegoating and scaremongering.
“JCWI warned the Government repeatedly that the Home Office and immigration system are not fit for purpose, and the hostile environment was a failure.
“In February we proved in the High Court that landlord immigration checks cause racial discrimination.
“After today, there is nowhere left to hide.
“The Tory leadership candidates must pledge to scrap the Hostile Environment, repeal Right to Rent and rebuild the immigration system from the ground up.
“We expect the Government to release the full report without delay so that we can begin finally to build a humane, fair and functional immigration system.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “We do not comment on leaked documents.”
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