That Brexit is going to cause changes is obvious – it’s rather the point of the exercise after all. But the idea that it will cause another Windrush scandal is something that only the gullible could believe. Yet that’s what is being said by a think tank, Global Future. They managing to rather miss the basics of what is being suggested.
Think back to what the Windrush scandal actually was. Not that we’d appointed a dipstick as Home Secretary, that’s not unusual enough to generate comment. Rather, that people who came to Britain 50 and 60 years ago under an entirely different immigration regime didn’t have the paperwork to show that they had entered and stayed legally.
The actual scandal being that some of them at least had done so, they just didn’t have the pieces of paper. And as a result of the box ticking they were hoicked out of their homes and lives of half a century and sent elsewhere. Yes, pretty scandalous, that the Home Office does such a thing.
So, how is this going to happen with EU citizens?
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] The report also says that in requiring people based in the UK under freedom of movement to suddenly prove their status, the scheme risks mirroring the Windrush scandal, in which UK nationals of Caribbean origin who had been in the UK for decades were denied rights or even deported because of a lack of documentation. This could happen again through a lack of awareness, Home Office errors and technicalities such as people having spent time out of the UK. [/perfectpullquote]The post-Brexit scheme asks that people sort out their paperwork now. Action This Day sort of stuff. This is going to lead to us unfairly deporting people in 50 years’ time how?
Quite, it’s a ridiculous allegation or suggestion. But then, you know, Project Fear…..
The language we use matters - it provides clarity to our own thoughts and enables…
It is now generally acknowledged that the structure of the NHS needs to be overhauled…
In the film Apollo 13, a loss of oxygen causes the crew to start inadvertently…
There's an idea out there which seems intuitive but then so many ideas do seem…
When we think about the darkly opaque goals of modern central bankers as they relate…
As the papers recently filled with the distressing images of desperate souls looking to escape…
View Comments
‘This could happen again through a lack of awareness, Home Office errors and technicalities such as people having spent time out of the UK.’
Technicality? It is not. Under current EC Directives on residence rights, residence must be continuous for five years - plus other conditions - to qualify for permanent residence.
Having done this, the individual gets a residency permit which is then ‘the documentation’ valid for ten years, which can be renewed at term.
It is notable how poorly EU regulations are understood by those who have a lot to say on the matter.
"Brexit is going to result in government institutions being so f****d up that they will willfully destroy documentation proving people are here legally."
And the solution to this is....?