Mr. Speaker,

With your permission, I wish to make a statement on the action this Government is taking to help the Windrush generation.

First, may I offer a full and open apology to everyone affected by the mistakes of the Home Office over the last decades. It must be harrowing for British citizens to be denied the rights and freedoms we all should enjoy, and on behalf of my department and my predecessors, I apologise unreservedly. The Home Office should have done better.

I must also clarify this. There is no question that all those who arrived from the Commonwealth before 1971, and their descendants, are British citizens. They should have unlimited access to the United Kingdom and its services, and the Home Office is working hard to ensure that this is the case.

To that end, the Windrush Taskforce has been established within the Home Office to deal will all those who believe themselves to be victims of unfair treatment due to the Windrush situation. There is a freephone hotline for those affected which shall be open 7 days a week, and a website where those affected can seek advice.

Currently, the Home Office is investigating 232 cases, but I recognise there could be more individuals who have not yet got in touch with the Windrush Taskforce. I urge anyone who requires paperwork to confirm their citizenship, or has any doubts about their current immigration status, to contact the Windrush Taskforce without delay so that we can work quickly to rectify the situation.

All those currently held in immigration detention centres or scheduled for deportation who believe themselves to be British citizens who lack documentation shall have leave to remain in the United Kingdom whilst we investigate the individual case. No deportation of anyone who believes themselves to be a Windrush victim shall occur.

As part of the Home Office’s recognition that those affected by this situation have done no wrong, we will waive the usual fees involved with issuing paperwork to prove British citizenship.

The Home Office, working with other agencies, will rectify all suspected Windrush cases within four weeks of opening our investigation, and will aim to take no more than two weeks to solve cases where citizens are currently in detention or facing deportation. The pain suffered by those who cannot prove their citizenship must be limited, and that is exactly what the Home Office is aiming to do.

I wish, Mr. Speaker, to speak about the ‘hostile environment’ of which former occupants of this Great Office have spoken. It is a term that is not consonant with this Government’s view of a global, outward-looking United Kingdom. The Home Office under this Government is committed to welcoming legal immigrants and the immensely valuable contribution that they make in this country. It is important that we tackle the issue of illegal immigration, but we must not deprive ourselves of the talented and hardworking individuals who wish to come here in accordance with our immigration policy, and we must also ensure that we do not punish law-abiding British citizens and legal immigrants for the misdeeds of others by creating a country hostile to immigration.

It is understandable that those affected by this situation may feel uncomfortable that it is the Home Office that is handling this situation given the mistakes of the past. I can solemnly promise that the Home Office is committed to doing its utmost to solve this issue of vital importance.

Mr. Speaker, the rights of British citizens should be the rights that all of our citizens enjoy. They are not rights exclusive to those who have lived in this country for generations. They are the rights that all British citizens should be given, regardless of where their parents or grandparents were born. We should all in this House be grateful for the immeasurable contribution that British citizens of, or descended from, the Windrush generation have made to this country, and I for one am glad to preside over a Home Office that welcomes talented and hardworking individuals who come to the United Kingdom to improve themselves and our country.

I commend this statement to the House.