Government to announce annual Windrush Day

Government to announce annual Windrush Day

The Government is set to announce an annual Windrush Day to celebrate the Windrush generation and their descendants.

Minister Lord Bourne told activists and others who had attended roundtable events over the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the generation that he will make the announcement with “great pride” on Monday.

It comes ahead of Friday’s anniversary of around 500 Caribbeans disembarking from the Empire Windrush ship at Tilbury Docks in Essex on June 22, 1948.

The annual Government-backed day will celebrate the generation and their descendants and be will be overseen by a panel with a Windrush Day grant, the Housing, Communities and Local Government minister told activists.

The announcement comes after a period of turbulence for the Government over the Windrush scandal, which has seen citizens wrongly detained and deported.

Others were denied access to healthcare, work, housing benefits and pensions.

Amber Rudd resigned as home secretary over the scandal, and Theresa May – her predecessor at the Home Office – came under fire for her “hostile environment” policy towards migrants.

Sajid Javid, who replaced Ms Rudd, signalled a softening of immigration policy under his leadership and that the much-criticised policy would be reviewed.

The Government did not immediately provide more information on the announcement.

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