THE HOME OFFICE announced on Thursday (4) that it will start make payments as part of the Windrush scandal compensation scheme.
In a written statement to Parliament, home secretary Sajid Javid said he was committed to providing appropriate compensation promptly.
Javid announced: “The government deeply regrets what has happened to some members of the Windrush generation and when I became home secretary I made clear that responding to this was a priority. The compensation scheme I launched in April is a key part of this response.
"The compensation scheme has been open to receive claims since April 2019 and the Home Office is now in a position to start making payments.
“I am committed to providing members of the Windrush generation with assurance that they will be appropriately and promptly compensated where it is shown that they have been disadvantaged by historical government policy.”
Javid launched the scheme to "right the wrongs" of the scandal in April, where thousands of victims will share in an estimated £200 million compensation fund.
According to reports, up to 15,000 eligible claims are expected to be lodged.
People waiting for the compensation has responded with frustration at the delay in making arrangements to initiate payments.
Janet Mckay, whose partner spent five weeks in detention and was booked in 2017 on to a plan back to Jamaica, told The Guardian: “Everyone is struggling to fill in the forms. I had no idea they weren’t ready to pay out as soon as the forms were sent in.”
Omar Khan, director of the Runnymede Trust, the race equality thinktank, said he was shocked that this issue had only now been resolved.
“It’s not good enough to commit in principle to compensation if you don’t put in place the levers required to get money into people’s pockets. They’ve had months to get it right. It raises questions about how urgently and seriously the government is responding to this injustice,” he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.
Moglai Bap and Mo Chara of Kneecap perform at Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset, Britain, June 28, 2025. REUTERS/Jaimi Joy
Police may probe anti-Israel comments at Glastonbury
BRITISH police said they were considering whether to launch an investigation after performers at Glastonbury Festival made anti-Israel comments during their shows.
"We are aware of the comments made by acts on the West Holts Stage at Glastonbury Festival this afternoon," Avon and Somerset Police, in western England, said on X late on Saturday (28).
Irish hip-hop group Kneecap and punk duo Bob Vylan made anti-Israeli chants in separate shows on the West Holts stage on Saturday. One of the members of Bob Vylan chanted "Death, death, to the IDF" in a reference to the Israel Defense Forces.
"Video evidence will be assessed by officers to determine whether any offences may have been committed that would require a criminal investigation," the police statement said.
The Israeli Embassy in Britain said it was "deeply disturbed by the inflammatory and hateful rhetoric expressed on stage at the Glastonbury Festival".
Prime minister Keir Starmer said earlier this month it was "not appropriate" for Kneecap to appear at Glastonbury.
The band's frontman Liam Óg Ó hAnnaidh was charged with a terrorism offence last month for allegedly displaying a flag in support of Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah at a concert in November. He has denied the charge.
A British government minister said it was appalling that the anti-Israel chants had been made at Glastonbury, and that the festival's organisers and the BBC broadcaster - which is showing the event - had questions to answer.
Health secretary Wes Streeting said he was also appalled by violence committed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank.
"I'd also say to the Israeli Embassy, get your own house in order in terms of the conduct of your own citizens and the settlers in the West Bank," Streeting told Sky News.
"I wish they'd take the violence of their own citizens towards Palestinians more seriously," he said.
(Reuters)