New train line name evokes mixed feelings in wake of Windrush scandal

The latest tribute to the Windrush generation is set to be rolled out in London, with the renaming of a train line, dedicated to remembering the Black Caribbean immigrants who came to rebuild the UK after World War Two. But with dark clouds looming over a Windrush compensation scheme accused of moving at a glacial pace, some have been angered over yet another memorial in their name.

The Windrush Line on the Overground system, goes through areas where many Black Caribbean immigrants first made their homes in the UK after World War Two – like Dalston and New Cross. The prominent Windrush campaigner Arthur Torrington, who opposed a similar commemorative monument because it lacked consultation with the community, is supportive of the re-naming and wants the definition of Windrush to have a wider interpretation.

“Windrush should mean those who served in the war, those who returned to the Caribbean, those who came back to England and who helped to rebuild England.”

He wants a more positive association with Windrush to be prominent in people’s minds.

The ship HMT Windrush arrived at Tilbury Docks in Essex from the Caribbean in June 1948, and marked the first major influx of people coming to the UK from the region. Men and women were lured by the promise of jobs in what they called their “mother country.” But when they arrived, the cold reception from the weather and much of society was extremely challenging.

Fast forward to 2017, and the word Windrush became synonymous with a scandal which swept across the Black Caribbean community. Many people were being wrongly held and deported back to their former homes.

The repercussions are still felt just as keenly today, as Channel 4 News has highlighted. Richard Black lived in England from the age of 6 and grew up there, but he was wrongly blocked from returning to the UK as an adult after a visit to Trinidad. He finally returned to the UK this year after 40 years in exile. Since then he’s been given British citizenship, but hasn’t received any compensation.

And he isn’t the only one. Victims like him are also now laying the blame at Labour’s door, who were once so vocal about the injustices this group faced, when they were in opposition.

Paulette Hamilton, the Labour MP for Birmingham Erdington, says the government is working as fast as they can, but stresses they’ve only been in power since July and they want to get the process around this right. And ultimately once the compensation has been sorted, she believes the Windrush legacy has to reflect the contributions made by people who first came to the UK and celebrate their achievements despite a backdrop of rampant discrimination.

However the word “Windrush” has the power to evoke bittersweet feelings, of pride and anger in equal measure, and until the scandal is fully resolved any commemoration will continue to be tinged with a hint of sadness.