Mel B joins call for funded legal support for Windrush scandal victims

Singer and television personality Mel B has said she is heartbroken by the ongoing struggle of Windrush scandal victims to secure justice. She has joined Windrush commissioner Rev Clive Foster in urging the UK government to commit to funding independent legal support for compensation claimants by the end of October.

The Windrush scandal saw mainly Black Britons who arrived legally in postwar Britain wrongly stripped of their citizenship and settlement rights. In April, the Guardian reported that the Home Office had refused compensation in more than half of claims submitted.

Legal help dramatically changes outcomes

Research from the University of Sussex found that once claimants received legal advice, the average successful compensation award rose from £11,400 to £83,200. One man who had initially been offered nothing later secured £295,000. Despite this, the government has declined to provide the kind of state-funded independent legal support given to victims of the Post Office and infected blood scandals.

Mel B, broadcaster Alison Hammond and former justice secretary David Lammy are among the signatories of a letter from Foster to migration minister Jo White, calling on her to commit to funding at the Windrush National Organisation conference in Birmingham on 30 October. Mel B, whose father was born on Nevis and whose grandparents were part of the Windrush generation, said filling out compensation paperwork can be difficult and anxiety-inducing, particularly for people living alone.

Foster said that under the current system, the Home Office effectively decides claims for harm caused by its own policies, and has formally recommended funding independent legal advice both before initial decisions and at review stage. His letter notes that some survivors have died while waiting for compensation, and that the ombudsman has found cases where people were wrongly told they were ineligible. Around 65,000 people have signed petitions demanding funded legal support, with backing from campaigners involved in the Post Office, Grenfell and Hillsborough cases.

A Home Office spokesperson said a £1.5m advocacy support fund introduced last year had already significantly improved support, and that the compensation scheme has now paid out more than £132m across 4,177 claims, with further reforms taking effect in January.