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| Uncovering Windrush: 'Only after months of reporting did the government apologise' | Uncovering Windrush: 'Only after months of reporting did the government apologise' |
| (2 months later) | |
| How long had you been researching and investigating before the first piece was published? Can you tell us what prompted you to start looking into it? Was there any point when you thought you might not be able to publish? | How long had you been researching and investigating before the first piece was published? Can you tell us what prompted you to start looking into it? Was there any point when you thought you might not be able to publish? |
| The investigation took months of work before the Guardian’s reporting of catastrophic Home Office failures erupted into a massive political scandal. From the moment I met Paulette Wilson, the 61-year-old, former House of Commons canteen worker, who had been detained and threatened with deportation after being misclassified as an illegal immigrant, I realised her case had been badly mishandled. But it was only after weeks of talking to small immigration charities around the country and hearing from more people affected that it began to be absolutely clear that these were not peculiar, one-off cases but that something had gone wrong at the Home Office on a huge scale. | The investigation took months of work before the Guardian’s reporting of catastrophic Home Office failures erupted into a massive political scandal. From the moment I met Paulette Wilson, the 61-year-old, former House of Commons canteen worker, who had been detained and threatened with deportation after being misclassified as an illegal immigrant, I realised her case had been badly mishandled. But it was only after weeks of talking to small immigration charities around the country and hearing from more people affected that it began to be absolutely clear that these were not peculiar, one-off cases but that something had gone wrong at the Home Office on a huge scale. |
| Can you take us through what happened in the months after that piece was published? | Can you take us through what happened in the months after that piece was published? |
| Guardian readers were much quicker to appreciate the brutality of the government’s treatment of the Windrush generation than government officials. There was an immediate flood of sympathy and offers of help for Paulette Wilson, who was still struggling to persuade Home Office staff she had arrived in the UK before 1973 (the point before which Commonwealth citizens had automatic right of abode) and had lived here continuously ever since. Slowly other people got in touch to say they had experienced similar difficulties – some had been sacked, others had been prevented from travelling to visit elderly parents who were dying in the Caribbean, others had lost their homes. | Guardian readers were much quicker to appreciate the brutality of the government’s treatment of the Windrush generation than government officials. There was an immediate flood of sympathy and offers of help for Paulette Wilson, who was still struggling to persuade Home Office staff she had arrived in the UK before 1973 (the point before which Commonwealth citizens had automatic right of abode) and had lived here continuously ever since. Slowly other people got in touch to say they had experienced similar difficulties – some had been sacked, others had been prevented from travelling to visit elderly parents who were dying in the Caribbean, others had lost their homes. |
| Readers responded with particular dismay to the case of Sylvester Marshall (whom we called Albert Thompson while his case was ongoing) who was made homeless and denied NHS cancer radiotherapy, and told he would have to pay £54,000 for treatment, despite having paid taxes in the UK for around four decades. But politicians were very slow to react. It was only after the Guardian published detailed interviews with around a dozen people who were suffering really tragic consequences as a result of the mistaken Home Office decision to mis-categorise them as illegal immigrants, after almost six months of reporting, that the government finally apologised and took action. | Readers responded with particular dismay to the case of Sylvester Marshall (whom we called Albert Thompson while his case was ongoing) who was made homeless and denied NHS cancer radiotherapy, and told he would have to pay £54,000 for treatment, despite having paid taxes in the UK for around four decades. But politicians were very slow to react. It was only after the Guardian published detailed interviews with around a dozen people who were suffering really tragic consequences as a result of the mistaken Home Office decision to mis-categorise them as illegal immigrants, after almost six months of reporting, that the government finally apologised and took action. |
| Given the gravity of the revelation in your reporting, how have you dealt with the demands of this investigation? What has it been like working on this story? | Given the gravity of the revelation in your reporting, how have you dealt with the demands of this investigation? What has it been like working on this story? |
| Quite stressful! For months, the Home Office press team kept saying there was nothing wrong with the system, and suggested that the individuals I was writing about were somehow at fault. On one occasion, a Home Office press officer rang the news editor to try to stop a story from being published. He was extremely unhappy that we planned to print without giving the full details to their team. I had to explain that sometimes the people I was talking to did not want their details to be handed to the Home Office, given that this was the department that had already made their lives hell. For weeks, the reporting was so all-consuming that I was working only on this 24/7, nights, days, weekends. | Quite stressful! For months, the Home Office press team kept saying there was nothing wrong with the system, and suggested that the individuals I was writing about were somehow at fault. On one occasion, a Home Office press officer rang the news editor to try to stop a story from being published. He was extremely unhappy that we planned to print without giving the full details to their team. I had to explain that sometimes the people I was talking to did not want their details to be handed to the Home Office, given that this was the department that had already made their lives hell. For weeks, the reporting was so all-consuming that I was working only on this 24/7, nights, days, weekends. |
| What support and encouragement were you given to continue to pursue this story? | What support and encouragement were you given to continue to pursue this story? |
| Editors were very supportive, and my colleagues were also really helpful. The health policy editor, Denis Campbell, helped unravel how new hostile environment measures were forcing NHS Trusts to charge people they suspected of being here illegally. | Editors were very supportive, and my colleagues were also really helpful. The health policy editor, Denis Campbell, helped unravel how new hostile environment measures were forcing NHS Trusts to charge people they suspected of being here illegally. |
| When my inbox began to fill up with more than a thousand really terrible personal accounts of Home Office-related problems, Caroline Bannock, the Guardian’s communities editor, took on the momentous task of creating a database with their details, and helped make sure that everyone got a reply, pointing them in the direction of organisations offering assistance. | When my inbox began to fill up with more than a thousand really terrible personal accounts of Home Office-related problems, Caroline Bannock, the Guardian’s communities editor, took on the momentous task of creating a database with their details, and helped make sure that everyone got a reply, pointing them in the direction of organisations offering assistance. |
| We wrote about some of their stories, and the information that was sent in was invaluable in helping reporters understand the range of difficulties people were experiencing as a result of the new hostile environment measures, which stretch much more widely than Windrush cases. | We wrote about some of their stories, and the information that was sent in was invaluable in helping reporters understand the range of difficulties people were experiencing as a result of the new hostile environment measures, which stretch much more widely than Windrush cases. |
| Can you tell us about the reaction that you personally have received while working on this story, including from Guardian readers? | Can you tell us about the reaction that you personally have received while working on this story, including from Guardian readers? |
| One Guardian reader in Dorset sent me a shoebox packed with bars of chocolate during the fortnight when the Windrush scandal was dominating the news, which was much appreciated by me and the reporters I sit next to. Lots of people got in touch wanting to give financial support to the charities helping those affected by the Windrush problems; some lawyers offered pro bono advice. | One Guardian reader in Dorset sent me a shoebox packed with bars of chocolate during the fortnight when the Windrush scandal was dominating the news, which was much appreciated by me and the reporters I sit next to. Lots of people got in touch wanting to give financial support to the charities helping those affected by the Windrush problems; some lawyers offered pro bono advice. |
| What do you think has been the most important element of the reporting? | What do you think has been the most important element of the reporting? |
| There was a commitment from the beginning to take beautiful pictures of everyone affected who was happy to be identified. These pictures really helped readers and (eventually) politicians realise that this was a problem affecting real people. Travelling to Jamaica for the first time in August helped me understand the painful consequences both of deportation and being refused the right to return to the country you consider your home. | There was a commitment from the beginning to take beautiful pictures of everyone affected who was happy to be identified. These pictures really helped readers and (eventually) politicians realise that this was a problem affecting real people. Travelling to Jamaica for the first time in August helped me understand the painful consequences both of deportation and being refused the right to return to the country you consider your home. |
| What has stayed with you throughout this investigation to keep you digging away at various elements of the story? | What has stayed with you throughout this investigation to keep you digging away at various elements of the story? |
| I kept writing about it because I thought it was totally crazy that people who had lived in the UK for more than half a century were being classified as illegal immigrants. I couldn’t understand why it took so long for the government to agree that there was a problem, when all of the individuals the stories were so shocking. | I kept writing about it because I thought it was totally crazy that people who had lived in the UK for more than half a century were being classified as illegal immigrants. I couldn’t understand why it took so long for the government to agree that there was a problem, when all of the individuals the stories were so shocking. |
| But it was really difficult to unpick because the problem was so hidden. If you’ve been told you’re an illegal immigrant by the Home Office, the last thing you want to do is have your picture in the paper – particularly in a climate where immigration is such a politically contentious issue – even if you know a mistake has been made. The people who agreed to be interviewed and photographed were really brave, and their decision to speak out made a huge difference. The new Home Secretary has promised a “fairer, more compassionate” Home Office; Windrush taskforce officials have taken more than 8,000 calls, more than 2,000 Windrush people have already been given papers confirming their right to remain in the UK and over 2000 have been granted British citizenship. | But it was really difficult to unpick because the problem was so hidden. If you’ve been told you’re an illegal immigrant by the Home Office, the last thing you want to do is have your picture in the paper – particularly in a climate where immigration is such a politically contentious issue – even if you know a mistake has been made. The people who agreed to be interviewed and photographed were really brave, and their decision to speak out made a huge difference. The new Home Secretary has promised a “fairer, more compassionate” Home Office; Windrush taskforce officials have taken more than 8,000 calls, more than 2,000 Windrush people have already been given papers confirming their right to remain in the UK and over 2000 have been granted British citizenship. |
| In the last few weeks I’ve been sent holiday pictures by people who have visited Jamaica for the first time in 50 years. I’ve had calls from people delighted to have finally got British passports. It has been lovely to hear from people when things have gone right, but a lot of people are still homeless and jobless and struggling financially as a result of difficulties that have stretched over years. | In the last few weeks I’ve been sent holiday pictures by people who have visited Jamaica for the first time in 50 years. I’ve had calls from people delighted to have finally got British passports. It has been lovely to hear from people when things have gone right, but a lot of people are still homeless and jobless and struggling financially as a result of difficulties that have stretched over years. |
| What could guard us against something like this happening in the future? | What could guard us against something like this happening in the future? |
| There’s been a culture of disbelief in the Home Office for years; government policy has made staff institutionally sceptical. I hope that this will change. | There’s been a culture of disbelief in the Home Office for years; government policy has made staff institutionally sceptical. I hope that this will change. |
| Read more stories like this on our Inside the Guardian homepage. | Read more stories like this on our Inside the Guardian homepage. |
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