Keir Starmer tells his deputy ‘you will remain a major figure in our party’
The Windrush commissioner has demanded “urgent reform” of the compensation scheme after being told by survivors that “the Home Office is waiting for us to die off”.
In a letter seen by the Guardian addressed to migration and equalities minister, Seema Malhotra, and shared with home secretary Yvette Cooper, Rev Clive Foster says it is “deeply concerning” that 66 people have died while waiting for compensation for the Windrush scandal.
Given the age and health of many people affected by the scandal, reform is a matter of urgency. Justice must be delivered in their lifetimes.
A phrase I’ve heard repeatedly from community members is that ‘the Home Office is waiting for us to die off’. While I don’t share this view, I believe it’s important that you hear it directly as it reflects the challenge you face in building trust.
We thank Rev Foster for his initial recommendations, many of which we are already implementing, and ministers will meet with him shortly to discuss further improvements to our schemes.
The UK has recognised the ‘real risk’ of genocide perpetuated by Israel, so unless this meeting is about peace, what message are we sending?
I am appalled at the decision to allow this representative of a government that is systematically killing Palestinian children on a daily basis to visit our country.
The prime minister is proving to be absolutely tone deaf to the desperate plight of the Palestinian people and the overwhelming feelings of revulsion of the British people at the brutality of the government Herzog represents.
Dialogue is one thing, but there are times when the act of meeting itself becomes a political statement.
Clearly Herzog is not Netanyahu, their politics on many issues are at variance. But that said, the president’s own words have helped legitimise the collective punishment of Palestinians, language that international jurists have warned could fall foul of the genocide convention.
The question must be asked: how do you see Israel in 10 years? What is the future for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza? If you have no reasonable alternative plan, Mr President, then there must be a Palestinian state.
But the only solution to this is through politics, through discussion. Herzog is easier to talk to than many in the extreme rightwing government in Israel. But we mustn’t pull our punches.
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