1 00:00:05,480 --> 00:00:08,520 Speaker 1: Anthony Williams has been living in the UK since he 2 00:00:08,600 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: was about seven years old. He came over with his 3 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: parents in the seventies from Jamaica, a former British colony. 4 00:00:16,079 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: He went straight from school to the British Army, serving 5 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: for thirteen years and now lives in Birmingham. But he 6 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: lost his job as a janitor because he couldn't prove 7 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:30,160 Speaker 1: he was a citizen. To make matters worse, he didn't 8 00:00:30,200 --> 00:00:33,520 Speaker 1: qualify for unemployment benefits either, and that's when it all 9 00:00:33,760 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 1: hit the fan that always be entitled to maybe benefits 10 00:00:38,080 --> 00:00:42,600 Speaker 1: because I was not any system that was pure confusion. 11 00:00:42,800 --> 00:00:47,080 Speaker 1: And that's truly Anthony wasn't the only person experiencing this 12 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: rude awakening. There's a name for the thousands of black 13 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,000 Speaker 1: people in Britain who, like Anthony, suddenly and for the 14 00:00:54,040 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: first time, found their citizenship status in question. They're part 15 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,840 Speaker 1: of a group called the wind Rush generation. The Empire 16 00:01:02,880 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: wind Rush was a ship that in brought hundreds of people, 17 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: mostly black, from British colonies in the Caribbean to help 18 00:01:09,680 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: rebuild the United Kingdom after World War Two. From that 19 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:16,200 Speaker 1: point on, the UK saw a wave of arrivals from 20 00:01:16,200 --> 00:01:19,320 Speaker 1: the islands that would last over the next twenty five years. 21 00:01:20,120 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 1: The earliest arrivals came over as citizens of the British Empire, 22 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:26,680 Speaker 1: and those who came later were granted all the rights 23 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:31,280 Speaker 1: provided to anyone born in the UK. But in a 24 00:01:31,319 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: surge of immigration from Europe and criticism that the government 25 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,319 Speaker 1: was losing its grip on its borders resulted in a 26 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:42,399 Speaker 1: broad crackdown on what the government called illegal migrants. That 27 00:01:42,440 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: made things complicated for people like Anthony who had never 28 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:49,840 Speaker 1: been considered illegal migrants before, but who also didn't have 29 00:01:49,920 --> 00:01:52,760 Speaker 1: the paperwork to prove their right to be in the country. 30 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:58,120 Speaker 1: Many lost access to jobs, education, health care. Some were 31 00:01:58,160 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: even deported. It is of Barbados or someone and actually 32 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: makes it something to chea may. Regardless, whatever problem that 33 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:10,640 Speaker 1: seemed to be, a lot of people gained. Deporting back 34 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:16,000 Speaker 1: to our countries who have been in UK was the problem. Then, 35 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:20,919 Speaker 1: after public outcry over the mistreatment of the wind Rush generation, 36 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:26,920 Speaker 1: something remarkable happened. The wind Rush generation helped to build 37 00:02:26,919 --> 00:02:30,480 Speaker 1: the country that we are today. And I want to 38 00:02:30,520 --> 00:02:33,760 Speaker 1: dispel any impression that my government is in some sense 39 00:02:33,800 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: clamping down on kind of world citizens, particularly those in 40 00:02:36,919 --> 00:02:40,880 Speaker 1: the Caribbean who worked a life here. The Home Secretary 41 00:02:41,000 --> 00:02:45,120 Speaker 1: apologized to her commons yesterday for any anxiety calls, and 42 00:02:45,360 --> 00:02:49,360 Speaker 1: I want to apologize to you today. Prime Minister Theresa 43 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:53,480 Speaker 1: May herself in the UK government apologized and set aside 44 00:02:53,560 --> 00:02:58,040 Speaker 1: what they called compensation for the harm cast. Only a 45 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:02,120 Speaker 1: handful of governments have ever done this. It's a big deal. 46 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: But making amends for past injustices is that such an 47 00:03:07,400 --> 00:03:11,919 Speaker 1: easy feat? That's something Alexandra Anger, who headed the wind 48 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:17,080 Speaker 1: Rush compensation policy, would soon find out. I thought that 49 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: this was a real opportunity, having myself worked in the 50 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: area of truth and reconciliation. But little did I know 51 00:03:25,160 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: that really wasn't the plan. It is the scandal which 52 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:39,440 Speaker 1: shamed Britain. Thousands from the so called wind Rush generation 53 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:43,600 Speaker 1: who came here legally were then told they were here illegally. 54 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,480 Speaker 1: The data shows that the median white family has ten 55 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,800 Speaker 1: times more wealth than the average black family. Economists often 56 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:55,800 Speaker 1: point to the absence of African American generational wealth. It 57 00:03:56,000 --> 00:04:00,200 Speaker 1: is inhumane and cruel for so many of that wind 58 00:04:00,280 --> 00:04:05,160 Speaker 1: Druss generation to have suffered so long. It's much easier 59 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:08,240 Speaker 1: to integrate a lunch content than it is to guarantee 60 00:04:08,240 --> 00:04:11,080 Speaker 1: an annual income. For instance, to get rid of positive 61 00:04:11,640 --> 00:04:15,800 Speaker 1: hundreds of Black Britons were failed who after decades were 62 00:04:15,840 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: British but not British enough. Welcome back to the paycheck. 63 00:04:25,680 --> 00:04:29,600 Speaker 1: I'm Jackie Simmons and I'm Rebecca Greenfield. In our last 64 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 1: episode we talked about the movement to pay reparations in 65 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,240 Speaker 1: the United States. The money would go to descendants of 66 00:04:36,279 --> 00:04:40,320 Speaker 1: people who were enslaved to acknowledge the harm done, and 67 00:04:40,360 --> 00:04:43,039 Speaker 1: a knock on effect is that it helps close the 68 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:47,040 Speaker 1: racial wealth gap. Last week, the House advanced a bill 69 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,800 Speaker 1: that would study reparations for descendants of slaves, but any 70 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,440 Speaker 1: payments to black people still face a major uphill battle. 71 00:04:55,080 --> 00:04:57,680 Speaker 1: There are other countries that have given cash payments to 72 00:04:57,760 --> 00:05:02,200 Speaker 1: populations for persecution andcluding our friends just across the Atlantic, 73 00:05:03,040 --> 00:05:05,039 Speaker 1: the UK is in the midst of what it calls 74 00:05:05,120 --> 00:05:08,440 Speaker 1: a compensation scheme to pay back members of the wind 75 00:05:08,520 --> 00:05:11,760 Speaker 1: Rush generation. The story of wind Rush might sound like 76 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,240 Speaker 1: an immigration story, but it's also a story about black 77 00:05:15,279 --> 00:05:20,080 Speaker 1: economic inequality in the UK. Around four of the UK 78 00:05:20,240 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: population is non white, and in London of residents are 79 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: ethnic minorities. Many of those people immigrated from former British colonies, 80 00:05:31,040 --> 00:05:34,440 Speaker 1: some of them descendants of slaves, and when they came 81 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: to the UK they faced discrimination in where they could 82 00:05:38,000 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: live and what jobs they could have. They also faced 83 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: outright violence based on their race, much like in the US. 84 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: Some of that historic discrimination manifests in a vast racial 85 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,799 Speaker 1: wealth gap today. A recent report found white British households 86 00:05:54,839 --> 00:05:57,680 Speaker 1: have nine times the median total wealth of a family 87 00:05:57,720 --> 00:06:00,960 Speaker 1: headed by someone from a black African background, and more 88 00:06:01,000 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: than twice the proportion of black people live in low 89 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: income households than white people. But the wind Rush compensation 90 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: scheme wasn't set up to address any of that. The 91 00:06:11,040 --> 00:06:14,359 Speaker 1: government has approached it more like fixing a bureaucratic error, 92 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:17,840 Speaker 1: which is partly why it's less of a model and 93 00:06:17,920 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: more of a cautionary tale. Olivia Carnte Hulu, a reporter 94 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:29,960 Speaker 1: in Bloomberg's London bureau, has more m Let's go back 95 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,760 Speaker 1: to Anthony Williams. He's the man you heard about at 96 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: the start of the show. Things were fine for him 97 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: until shortly after he started a job as a head 98 00:06:37,360 --> 00:06:40,640 Speaker 1: janitor in two thousand and thirteen. He was then told 99 00:06:40,640 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: he was no longer employable and he didn't have the 100 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:47,440 Speaker 1: right to work in the UK. A year earlier, Thereason May, 101 00:06:47,720 --> 00:06:50,320 Speaker 1: who at that time was Home Secretary and leading the 102 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,599 Speaker 1: government's new immigration strategy, brought in what would become known 103 00:06:53,640 --> 00:06:57,240 Speaker 1: as the Hostile Environment. She introduced a series of new 104 00:06:57,279 --> 00:07:02,480 Speaker 1: measures which included requiring landlords, the National Health Service, charities 105 00:07:02,520 --> 00:07:06,520 Speaker 1: and other organizations to carry out ID checks. The government 106 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:10,000 Speaker 1: also starts a communication drive across London, telling people who 107 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: they called illegal immigrants to go home or face being 108 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: arrested and detained. The aim was to make the UK 109 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:20,240 Speaker 1: a really harsh place to live for undocumented migrants. We 110 00:07:20,280 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 1: want to ensure that only legal migrants have access to 111 00:07:22,920 --> 00:07:26,240 Speaker 1: the labor market, free health services, housing, bank accounts and 112 00:07:26,360 --> 00:07:29,200 Speaker 1: driving licenses. And it is not just about making the 113 00:07:29,280 --> 00:07:32,360 Speaker 1: UK a more hostile place for illegal migrants. It is 114 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:38,520 Speaker 1: also about fairness. The national if you like narrative was around. 115 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:42,680 Speaker 1: We've got to show that if you don't have the 116 00:07:42,800 --> 00:07:46,320 Speaker 1: right to be here, we're gonna make it really hostile 117 00:07:46,800 --> 00:07:53,720 Speaker 1: so you leave. Unfortunately, people who had the absolute right 118 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:57,360 Speaker 1: to be here, who had come from the Commonwealth, often 119 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:01,880 Speaker 1: of their parents. They were being told, if you can't 120 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: prove you've got the right to be here. We're going 121 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,480 Speaker 1: to take away your access to your job, to healthcare, 122 00:08:08,840 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: to education. And this was shocking because you know, there'd 123 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:20,480 Speaker 1: always been this idea that if you'd come from the Commonwealth, 124 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:23,120 Speaker 1: you just had the right to be here. You you 125 00:08:23,120 --> 00:08:26,400 Speaker 1: didn't need to prove the right to be here. That's 126 00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:30,240 Speaker 1: Alexandra Anchor from the Windress Compensation scheme. She's worked as 127 00:08:30,240 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 1: a barrister and an expert on restorative justice. Alexandra's not 128 00:08:34,440 --> 00:08:37,720 Speaker 1: from the Windress generation herself, but the father's from Garnet 129 00:08:38,280 --> 00:08:40,120 Speaker 1: and she knew someone whose parent was a fellow ger 130 00:08:40,160 --> 00:08:43,600 Speaker 1: name who was caught up in the scandal. Anthony, who 131 00:08:43,679 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: never needs any paperwork before found out he was lacking 132 00:08:46,920 --> 00:08:49,360 Speaker 1: crucial proof of his right to work, which made it 133 00:08:49,360 --> 00:08:52,160 Speaker 1: impossible for him to get a job. And what he 134 00:08:52,200 --> 00:08:56,160 Speaker 1: saw in newspapers about the government's new immigration strategy scared him. 135 00:08:57,040 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: How people get picked up on the streets. The van 136 00:09:00,000 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: had been around with a massive sign saying if you're 137 00:09:03,120 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: here illegally, pack three bags, we were coming to get you. 138 00:09:07,000 --> 00:09:09,320 Speaker 1: That kind of stuff and put really frightened people. So, 139 00:09:09,400 --> 00:09:10,760 Speaker 1: you know, I mean, some people are on the ground. 140 00:09:11,160 --> 00:09:13,480 Speaker 1: The money was sure. I mean, come the winter, Tom, 141 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:15,520 Speaker 1: I did the stupid things like I just turned my 142 00:09:15,559 --> 00:09:19,280 Speaker 1: fridge off. It is that cold in the flat. Anthony's 143 00:09:19,280 --> 00:09:23,800 Speaker 1: limbo lasted five years. During that time, he couldn't access healthcare. 144 00:09:24,679 --> 00:09:26,439 Speaker 1: He was unable to get treatment when he had a 145 00:09:26,480 --> 00:09:29,760 Speaker 1: serious gum infection and lost most of his teeth. I 146 00:09:29,840 --> 00:09:31,800 Speaker 1: was confused. I think that was going on, and I 147 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: believe that was I was the only person exactly too. 148 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:36,840 Speaker 1: I didn't have no one to talk to about it, really, 149 00:09:36,880 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: because it's not I don't I don't want to talk 150 00:09:38,280 --> 00:09:41,280 Speaker 1: about because of my past being that being in the army, 151 00:09:41,280 --> 00:09:43,959 Speaker 1: and now I'm being treated in this way and it's 152 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:47,079 Speaker 1: a it's actually hurting my pride of it. They really 153 00:09:47,080 --> 00:10:01,640 Speaker 1: have to really nderstand why this is a story about 154 00:10:01,720 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: racial dynamics in the UK. We have to go back 155 00:10:04,640 --> 00:10:08,959 Speaker 1: a few centuries well before, when the Empire wind Rust 156 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:11,199 Speaker 1: sailed into the Tilbury Docks in the east of England, 157 00:10:11,600 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 1: carrying hundreds of people to help the country rebuild. I 158 00:10:15,480 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: talked to my colleague from City Lab Brenon Mock, who's 159 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,120 Speaker 1: written about the history of afric Caribbeans in the UK 160 00:10:21,720 --> 00:10:26,360 Speaker 1: and about how the wind Dress generation fits in Hey Brenon, Hey, Olivia. 161 00:10:26,800 --> 00:10:29,600 Speaker 1: So I wrote about this last year for Bloomberg City 162 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: lab and it's important to understand that the United Kingdom 163 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:36,320 Speaker 1: colonized many of the Caribbean islands in the sixteen hundreds, 164 00:10:37,120 --> 00:10:39,440 Speaker 1: and in the centuries that followed, they'd go on to 165 00:10:39,520 --> 00:10:42,840 Speaker 1: form a key part of the Empire's trade network. The 166 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:45,920 Speaker 1: colonies took millions of black people from Africa to work 167 00:10:45,960 --> 00:10:50,319 Speaker 1: on sugar plantations in London's Financial District, became the center 168 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: of an economic system built on Caribbean slavery. When slavery 169 00:10:55,160 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 1: ended across the British Empire in the eighteen thirties, white 170 00:10:58,840 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 1: elites and governors stopped investing in infrastructure, education, and business 171 00:11:03,440 --> 00:11:07,480 Speaker 1: development on these islands. So to achieve some semblance of 172 00:11:07,480 --> 00:11:11,439 Speaker 1: economic mobility, the newly freed Afro Caribbeans traveled to other 173 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,120 Speaker 1: parts of the British Empire and also the Americans to 174 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:17,080 Speaker 1: earn money, much of which they sent back to their families. 175 00:11:19,120 --> 00:11:21,880 Speaker 1: World War Two is a massive turning point for Britain 176 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:25,840 Speaker 1: and its relationship with its Caribbean colonies. Thousands of people 177 00:11:25,880 --> 00:11:29,000 Speaker 1: from the islands joined the armed forces as British subjects 178 00:11:29,440 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: and When the fighting was over, many of them traveled 179 00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:33,880 Speaker 1: to Britain to help rebuild the nation they felt a 180 00:11:33,960 --> 00:11:37,840 Speaker 1: sense of loyalty to, and this is where we're beginning 181 00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:41,199 Speaker 1: our story of the wind Rush generation. Many of their 182 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:44,480 Speaker 1: ancestors were enslaved and their children were considered subjects of 183 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:47,400 Speaker 1: the British Empire and its colonies, so many of them 184 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:52,200 Speaker 1: weren't really immigrants, at least not those first arrivals. Yet 185 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:57,520 Speaker 1: the new Afro Caribbean arrivals experienced both over in casual racism, 186 00:11:57,559 --> 00:12:00,720 Speaker 1: they were harassed and because white people refused to work 187 00:12:00,760 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 1: alongside them, they were denied jobs. The day the Empire, 188 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:08,600 Speaker 1: when Russia arrived in England, a group of lawmakers wrote 189 00:12:08,600 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: to the Prime Minister warning about the consequences of what 190 00:12:11,520 --> 00:12:19,520 Speaker 1: they call quote an influx of colored people. Today, some 191 00:12:19,600 --> 00:12:22,319 Speaker 1: people are proud of the UK's imperial history, when at 192 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:24,520 Speaker 1: one point it held power over around quarter of the 193 00:12:24,520 --> 00:12:28,560 Speaker 1: world's population. Othersly the period is one of huge economic 194 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:31,240 Speaker 1: exploitation and human suffering, which was the starting point for 195 00:12:31,280 --> 00:12:33,960 Speaker 1: gaping and equality, not just within the UK but across 196 00:12:34,000 --> 00:12:36,720 Speaker 1: the globe. And then there's thads who see the truth 197 00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 1: that somewhere in between the two. One thing is clear. 198 00:12:40,960 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 1: Over the years, Black communities in Britain have registered their 199 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:47,160 Speaker 1: anger with what they see is continued unequal treatment. When 200 00:12:47,200 --> 00:12:50,160 Speaker 1: the US police officer murdered George Floyd last year, there 201 00:12:50,200 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: was an outpouring of grief for the discrimination that black 202 00:12:52,520 --> 00:12:55,600 Speaker 1: people have experienced in the UK that explodes into a 203 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:57,920 Speaker 1: series of protests like the ones we saw in the US. 204 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:00,920 Speaker 1: Much of that frustration was targeted at how the wind 205 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:04,000 Speaker 1: Dress generation has been treated. There's been a lot of 206 00:13:04,040 --> 00:13:07,400 Speaker 1: soul searching since then. Financial heavyweights in the City of 207 00:13:07,440 --> 00:13:09,640 Speaker 1: London have begun to apologize for the roles they played 208 00:13:09,640 --> 00:13:13,199 Speaker 1: in financing and profiting from the slave trade. The wind 209 00:13:13,240 --> 00:13:16,840 Speaker 1: Dress compensation scheme was established before the George Floyd protests. 210 00:13:17,160 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: It was never about trying to address these wider issues 211 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: and apologizing for racism and slavery. It's about making amends 212 00:13:23,920 --> 00:13:29,720 Speaker 1: for a series of errors. The most significant of those 213 00:13:29,760 --> 00:13:33,120 Speaker 1: mistakes took place in the nineteen seventies, about a decade 214 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:37,120 Speaker 1: after the majority of British colonies became independent. There was 215 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 1: a growing feeling within the government but also across the 216 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,360 Speaker 1: country that too many people were coming to live in 217 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: Britain so they introduced legislation to make it harder for 218 00:13:45,800 --> 00:13:49,000 Speaker 1: people to get to the UK. One of those laws 219 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:51,200 Speaker 1: decided that everyone who arrived in the country from the 220 00:13:51,240 --> 00:13:56,360 Speaker 1: former empire before nineteen seventy three could stay, but authorities 221 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:58,679 Speaker 1: kept no official record of everyone that they gave that 222 00:13:58,760 --> 00:14:03,040 Speaker 1: permission to. There was no paperwork or any kind of identification, 223 00:14:03,120 --> 00:14:06,640 Speaker 1: in what has since been called a profound institutional failure 224 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:11,440 Speaker 1: by an independent review. Then in two thousand and ten, 225 00:14:11,720 --> 00:14:14,400 Speaker 1: the Home Office, the ministry in charge of Domestic Affairs, 226 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:18,040 Speaker 1: destroyed the immigrants landing cards. It says that decision was 227 00:14:18,080 --> 00:14:20,960 Speaker 1: for data protection reasons and they didn't think the information 228 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:24,640 Speaker 1: on the cars was that important. The Black Caribbean British 229 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: residents were left with absolutely no way of proving their 230 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:29,520 Speaker 1: right to live in the country, and they had never 231 00:14:29,600 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: needed that until the hostile environment policies were introduced. We'll 232 00:14:34,480 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 1: probably never know how many members of the win Dress 233 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 1: generation got caught up in this policy. It's safe to 234 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:46,640 Speaker 1: say thousands. The compensation scheme that the UK government came 235 00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:48,840 Speaker 1: up with aimed to right the wrongs of the scandal, 236 00:14:48,880 --> 00:14:54,000 Speaker 1: paying what they described as quote eligible individuals who did 237 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,480 Speaker 1: not have the right documentation to prove their status in 238 00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:58,960 Speaker 1: the UK and suffered adverse effects on their life as 239 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,760 Speaker 1: a result. To achieve this, they've break down all the 240 00:15:02,800 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: way someone could have been effecting, from losing their job 241 00:15:05,280 --> 00:15:08,040 Speaker 1: to the general impact on their life and use public 242 00:15:08,080 --> 00:15:13,320 Speaker 1: funds to pay for it. I felt really optimistic at 243 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:18,040 Speaker 1: the beginning, feeling this was an opportunity to go and help. 244 00:15:18,680 --> 00:15:22,040 Speaker 1: That's Alexandra Anchor again. She wants to be involved because 245 00:15:22,040 --> 00:15:24,600 Speaker 1: she knew someone wrongly caught up in the hostile environment 246 00:15:25,080 --> 00:15:27,920 Speaker 1: and understood the price they paid. But as soon as 247 00:15:27,960 --> 00:15:30,360 Speaker 1: the scheme was set up, it was plagued with difficulties. 248 00:15:30,720 --> 00:15:34,040 Speaker 1: Payments were delayed and capped at a level that didn't 249 00:15:34,040 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 1: even come close to compensating people who'd been unable to 250 00:15:37,120 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: work for years. In fact, it was about a full 251 00:15:40,640 --> 00:15:43,880 Speaker 1: year after Anthony applied for compensation that he got an offer. 252 00:15:44,560 --> 00:15:51,120 Speaker 1: It was thousand seven d the synthetics power. That's a 253 00:15:51,240 --> 00:15:55,760 Speaker 1: five years of misery, five years of lost employment, five 254 00:15:55,800 --> 00:15:58,640 Speaker 1: of the years of loss of access to any kind 255 00:15:58,640 --> 00:16:01,720 Speaker 1: of medical treatment. I started laughing at first. I thought 256 00:16:01,760 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: they're winding me up. Just under nineteen pounds. It didn't 257 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,120 Speaker 1: come close to compensating Anthony for the years he hadn't worked, 258 00:16:09,760 --> 00:16:13,440 Speaker 1: and he wasn't alone. The project faced an absolute avalanche 259 00:16:13,480 --> 00:16:17,040 Speaker 1: of criticism. Part of the payments focused on loss of employment, 260 00:16:17,360 --> 00:16:19,600 Speaker 1: but they were kept at the loss of a year's salary. 261 00:16:20,400 --> 00:16:23,160 Speaker 1: Many people, like Anthony had been out to work for 262 00:16:23,200 --> 00:16:27,360 Speaker 1: five times as long. For others, the compensation was so 263 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:30,800 Speaker 1: delayed that they died before receiving anything, and some people 264 00:16:30,880 --> 00:16:32,880 Speaker 1: question why the Home Office was even running the scheme 265 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:35,000 Speaker 1: at all when the whole mess was their fault in 266 00:16:35,000 --> 00:16:37,920 Speaker 1: the first place. There are a number of problems with 267 00:16:37,960 --> 00:16:40,840 Speaker 1: the compensation scheme, and it's the obvious one is that 268 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:45,800 Speaker 1: the scheme itself lacks independence. The Hostile Environment Policy was 269 00:16:45,840 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: a policy that was implemented by the UK government, so 270 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 1: there is a bit of a case of the government 271 00:16:50,880 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: marking its own homework. He's a top London City lawyer 272 00:16:57,840 --> 00:17:01,200 Speaker 1: who's worked on compensation schemes across Britain, including a case 273 00:17:01,240 --> 00:17:03,480 Speaker 1: of one of the country's biggest football clubs involving a 274 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,320 Speaker 1: sexual abuse scandal. He's also studied other cases from around 275 00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:10,199 Speaker 1: the world. He says that all the best attempts to 276 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:15,199 Speaker 1: write past wrongs have been efficient transparent, their timely and 277 00:17:15,320 --> 00:17:19,640 Speaker 1: used experts. The win Dress compensation scheme hasn't always hit 278 00:17:19,680 --> 00:17:25,720 Speaker 1: those markers. In October two hundred and twenty six individuals 279 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:30,920 Speaker 1: had been paid a total of two million, one hundred 280 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:35,480 Speaker 1: and eighty five thousand pounds, give or take. I mean 281 00:17:35,880 --> 00:17:38,400 Speaker 1: it doesn't take a great mathematician to work out that 282 00:17:38,400 --> 00:17:42,360 Speaker 1: that means that each person received on average less than 283 00:17:42,400 --> 00:17:46,600 Speaker 1: ten thousand pounds. Meanwhile, Alexandra, working with the team put 284 00:17:46,640 --> 00:17:49,840 Speaker 1: together to get the compensation projects up and running, started 285 00:17:49,840 --> 00:17:52,680 Speaker 1: seeing cracks appear in the whole process. There was kind 286 00:17:52,680 --> 00:17:56,800 Speaker 1: of chaos. It was a team that had been assembled 287 00:17:56,840 --> 00:18:01,240 Speaker 1: that short notice, and it meant we had a mixture 288 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: of people. We had people with good hearts and they 289 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:08,200 Speaker 1: were skilled and expert, but we also have people who 290 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:12,080 Speaker 1: were actually part of the system and they were very 291 00:18:12,160 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: much part of the problem. A public debate emerged about 292 00:18:23,480 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 1: the nature of the entire scandal and why it happens 293 00:18:25,880 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 1: in the first place. Had the Winter Generation been mistreated 294 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:33,000 Speaker 1: because they were black? Was it really just a mistake? 295 00:18:34,200 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: The reality is complicated. It was easier for some people 296 00:18:37,680 --> 00:18:39,960 Speaker 1: to see it as a bureaucratic error, and that was 297 00:18:40,000 --> 00:18:41,919 Speaker 1: a way to deal with the legacies of racism in 298 00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:45,720 Speaker 1: this country. There were some who refused to see this 299 00:18:46,040 --> 00:18:51,080 Speaker 1: as an issue that engaged with race or race discrimination, 300 00:18:51,760 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: and invariably, though those people who had been harmed were black, 301 00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,399 Speaker 1: they refused to see this as anything other than as 302 00:19:01,800 --> 00:19:06,399 Speaker 1: an error, a mistake that didn't engage race, and wanted 303 00:19:06,480 --> 00:19:10,240 Speaker 1: to look at it with a color blindness. About a 304 00:19:10,320 --> 00:19:13,879 Speaker 1: year after Alexandra joined the team, she found her situation untenable. 305 00:19:14,320 --> 00:19:20,679 Speaker 1: Every aspect of it was wanting, from lack of communications, 306 00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:30,280 Speaker 1: the very poor effort around outreach, the continual failure to 307 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:36,280 Speaker 1: respond to community concern and criticism, and it really also 308 00:19:36,400 --> 00:19:43,800 Speaker 1: reflects that the Home Office doesn't really employ that many 309 00:19:43,840 --> 00:19:48,199 Speaker 1: senior black people. So you know, you have an organization 310 00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:52,639 Speaker 1: with thirty tho plus staff, but in senior leadership roles 311 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:58,560 Speaker 1: you'll have less than ten black staff. The attitudes of 312 00:19:58,640 --> 00:20:03,800 Speaker 1: some staff were within addictive and disgraceful, and so all 313 00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: of those things told me it was time to go. 314 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:10,720 Speaker 1: Alexandra resigned and ended up leaving the Home Office altogether 315 00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:13,680 Speaker 1: in August last year. The scheme would go on to 316 00:20:13,720 --> 00:20:16,919 Speaker 1: receive so much criticism that in December twenty twenty, just 317 00:20:17,000 --> 00:20:19,680 Speaker 1: over a year after it launched, the Home Office announced 318 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:22,760 Speaker 1: it was overhauling the payment, which included raising the maximum 319 00:20:22,800 --> 00:20:25,280 Speaker 1: payment anyone could receive for the impact on their life 320 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,920 Speaker 1: by ten times, and those changes were applied retrospectively. When 321 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:32,720 Speaker 1: we call in touch with the government, a spokesperson told 322 00:20:32,800 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 1: us we launched the win Dress compensation scheme to ensure 323 00:20:36,080 --> 00:20:38,719 Speaker 1: those so badly let down get the compensation they deserve. 324 00:20:39,520 --> 00:20:42,520 Speaker 1: They also said since April two nineteen, they've offered almost 325 00:20:42,520 --> 00:20:49,399 Speaker 1: eighteen million pounds, but is it even possible to fairly 326 00:20:49,400 --> 00:20:53,240 Speaker 1: compensate someone for these past injustices. Anthony since been offered 327 00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:55,480 Speaker 1: a substantially higher figure than the eighteen and a half 328 00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,560 Speaker 1: thousand pounds than he was going to get the fulled 329 00:20:58,400 --> 00:21:00,639 Speaker 1: but that doesn't change what's happened to him. I lost 330 00:21:00,840 --> 00:21:03,320 Speaker 1: lost of my confidence. Really, I'm not out going anymore. 331 00:21:03,320 --> 00:21:06,119 Speaker 1: I'm not I don't trust I don't really trust people 332 00:21:06,119 --> 00:21:09,440 Speaker 1: that much anymore. And there are at some point now 333 00:21:09,560 --> 00:21:11,560 Speaker 1: where I do regret to join in the army in 334 00:21:11,560 --> 00:21:14,400 Speaker 1: some ways, you know, because I gave them. I gave 335 00:21:14,440 --> 00:21:16,720 Speaker 1: them thirteen years and they were thirty years with the 336 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,159 Speaker 1: best years of my life. And what they're doing to me. 337 00:21:19,240 --> 00:21:24,879 Speaker 1: Now there are many others still fighting the payments they 338 00:21:24,880 --> 00:21:28,719 Speaker 1: were offered or who haven't received anything, And all these 339 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:30,800 Speaker 1: years later, there are still people to stay waiting for 340 00:21:30,840 --> 00:21:34,880 Speaker 1: their documents to be soughted out. When you ask Alexandra 341 00:21:34,960 --> 00:21:37,680 Speaker 1: about her role in the program and her decision to leave, 342 00:21:38,680 --> 00:21:42,359 Speaker 1: she looks back with mixed feelings. My father thought, in 343 00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:45,399 Speaker 1: the war for this country. I've got a brother who's 344 00:21:45,400 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 1: seen active service, but there were veterans who had got 345 00:21:49,200 --> 00:21:53,080 Speaker 1: caught up in wind rush as well. So how do 346 00:21:53,160 --> 00:21:56,840 Speaker 1: I then look my children in the face and tell 347 00:21:56,920 --> 00:22:01,000 Speaker 1: them be proud of your country. Your countries got you 348 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:08,320 Speaker 1: if we have wind rush. So until we resolve wind rush, 349 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:13,720 Speaker 1: until we resolve our nation's hurt, you know, we don't 350 00:22:13,760 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 1: move forward together as a nation. So how did it 351 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,840 Speaker 1: make me feel? It made me feel wretched that I 352 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:27,159 Speaker 1: had failed, because the cost of failure in successive generations 353 00:22:27,440 --> 00:22:30,720 Speaker 1: could be very great, and I don't want that on 354 00:22:30,840 --> 00:22:45,240 Speaker 1: my conscience. Last month, the UK released a report it 355 00:22:45,240 --> 00:22:49,520 Speaker 1: commissioned on racial inequality. It tried to answer tough questions 356 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:54,320 Speaker 1: about why inequality between white people and ethnic minorities persist. 357 00:22:55,160 --> 00:22:57,800 Speaker 1: It found that the UK has entered a new era 358 00:22:58,000 --> 00:23:02,280 Speaker 1: of participation for ethnic minority who should, and I quote, 359 00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:07,439 Speaker 1: examine the extent individuals and their communities could help themselves 360 00:23:07,760 --> 00:23:12,040 Speaker 1: through their own agency, rather than wait for invisible external 361 00:23:12,080 --> 00:23:17,439 Speaker 1: forces to assemble to do the job. This week, a 362 00:23:17,440 --> 00:23:22,200 Speaker 1: group of United Nations experts rejected and condemned that report, stating, 363 00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 1: and again this is verbatim, it is stunning to read 364 00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 1: a report on race and ethnicity that repackages racist tropes 365 00:23:31,040 --> 00:23:39,280 Speaker 1: and stereotypes into fact, twisting data and missupplying statistics. Next week, 366 00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:42,520 Speaker 1: on the season finale of The Paycheck, we explore what 367 00:23:42,640 --> 00:23:45,399 Speaker 1: it might look like to really dig into America's racist 368 00:23:45,440 --> 00:23:49,960 Speaker 1: past and a tone for it. Mississippi sent two people 369 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:53,400 Speaker 1: to the US capital. One is Jefferson Davis, who used 370 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:56,240 Speaker 1: to be the president of the Confederacy when it's seceeded 371 00:23:56,240 --> 00:23:59,720 Speaker 1: from the Union. And then the second is James C. George, 372 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:04,040 Speaker 1: was a U. S Senator, colonel and the Confederate Army 373 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:08,920 Speaker 1: during the Civil War and also my great great great grandfather. 374 00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:18,400 Speaker 1: Also he owned many slaves. Thanks for listening to The Paycheck. 375 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:22,040 Speaker 1: If you like the show, please rate, review, and subscribe 376 00:24:22,040 --> 00:24:25,480 Speaker 1: wherever you get your podcasts. This episode was hosted by Me, 377 00:24:25,640 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: Rebecca Greenfield, Amy Jackie Simmons. Today's episode was edited by 378 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: Caroline Alexander and Rebecca Greenfield. It was reported by Olivia 379 00:24:35,320 --> 00:24:39,399 Speaker 1: connote A Hulu and Brenton Mock. This episode was produced 380 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:42,399 Speaker 1: by Lindsay Cradowell. We also had production help from Magnus 381 00:24:42,440 --> 00:24:46,679 Speaker 1: Hendrickson and editing help from Francesca Levi, Rakheeta Soluja, Janet Paskin, 382 00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,200 Speaker 1: and Jackie Simmons. Our original music is by Leo Sidron. 383 00:24:50,640 --> 00:24:54,080 Speaker 1: Francesca Levi is Bloomberg's head of Podcasts. We'll see you 384 00:24:54,119 --> 00:24:54,480 Speaker 1: next time.