Windrush report author attacks Home Office's response

Priti Patel's department must swiftly prove its commitment to reform, says Wendy Williams

The Home Office has failed to make adequate progress in reviewing its hostile environment policies and must swiftly prove that it is not merely paying lip service" to the idea of reform, the author of a damning report into the Windrush scandal has told MPs.

Wendy Williams, whose Lessons Learned review into the causes of the immigration scandal was published earlier this year, said the department risked losing a once-in-a-generation opportunity for change. She also voiced surprise that only 168 people had received compensation two and a half years after the government first apologised for mistakenly misclassifying thousands of legal British residents as illegal immigrants.