Ending the Hostile Environment

By: Diane Abbott

We must make sure scandals like Windrush never happen again.

Passengers from the Caribbean land at the Port of Tilbury, near London, on 21 June 1948. (Photo by PA Images / Getty Images.)

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In 1948, the Empire Windrush sailed into British history. It began its journey from Kingston, Jamaica and docked a month later in Tilbury on the River Thames. The 492 passengers onboard were the earliest group of post-war Caribbean migrants, achieving iconic status.

Over the last year the Empire Windrush has given its name to a political scandal which obliged the prime minister, Theresa May, to apologise and the former Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, to resign. Despite Rudd’s disgraceful reappointment to the cabinet only seven months later, the questions raised by the scandal about the government’s immigration policies endure.

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In 1948, the Empire Windrush sailed into British history. It began its journey from Kingston, Jamaica and docked a month later in Tilbury on the River Thames. The 492 passengers onboard were the earliest group of post-war Caribbean migrants, achieving iconic status.

Over the last year the Empire Windrush has given its name to a political scandal which obliged the prime minister, Theresa May, to apologise and the former Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, to resign. Despite Rudd’s disgraceful reappointment to the cabinet only seven months later, the questions raised by the scandal about the government’s immigration policies endure.

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In 1948, the Empire Windrush sailed into British history. It began its journey from Kingston, Jamaica and docked a month later in Tilbury on the River Thames. The 492 passengers onboard were the earliest group of post-war Caribbean migrants, achieving iconic status.

Over the last year the Empire Windrush has given its name to a political scandal which obliged the prime minister, Theresa May, to apologise and the former Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, to resign. Despite Rudd’s disgraceful reappointment to the cabinet only seven months later, the questions raised by the scandal about the government’s immigration policies endure.

In 1948, the Empire Windrush sailed into British history. It began its journey from Kingston, Jamaica and docked a month later in Tilbury on the River Thames. The 492 passengers onboard were the earliest group of post-war Caribbean migrants, achieving iconic status.

Over the last year the Empire Windrush has given its name to a political scandal which obliged the prime minister, Theresa May, to apologise and the former Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, to resign. Despite Rudd’s disgraceful reappointment to the cabinet only seven months later, the questions raised by the scandal about the government’s immigration policies endure.

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