June 19, 2025
In a move that has sparked both cautious optimism and pointed criticism, the Home Office has appointed Reverend Clive Foster as the UK’s first Windrush Commissioner — a role created to oversee the government’s response to one of the most egregious racial injustices in recent British history.
Rev. Clive Foster at Windrush National Orginisation Dinner 2024 (image WNO)
Foster, a senior pastor and community leader from Nottingham, is said to bring "lived experience" and a long-standing commitment to social justice. But critics argue that his appointment reflects a familiar pattern of, symbolic representation over meaningful reform.
“This is not about Reverend Foster’s integrity,” said one legal campaigner who asked to remain anonymous. “It’s about the government’s refusal to empower those with the legal expertise and activist credentials to hold them to account. We needed a legal firebrand, not a conciliatory figure.”
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The Windrush scandal, which erupted in 2018, saw thousands of Black Britons wrongly detained, deported, or denied access to healthcare, housing and employment spanning more than three decades. The Home Office’s own chaotic compensation scheme — still under its control — has been widely condemned as slow, opaque and traumatising. As of April 2025, only 3,291 claims have been paid out, to the tune of £100 million of an allotted £500 million and with over half of all closed claims deemed ineligible or nil-awarded, despite compelling evidence in support of claims.
Baroness Floella Benjamin speakingg the the APPG on Access to Justice - Making the case for legal aid for Windrush victims to gain proper access to justice.
Foster’s appointment comes just days after Baroness Floella Benjamin lambasted the scheme as “designed to fail,” citing the systemic under-compensation of claimants without legal representation. Her call for independent oversight and legal aid was echoed by campaigners across the country.
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Yet the government’s choice of a part-time commissioner with no formal legal training has raised eyebrows. Euen Hebert-Small a long standing researcher of immigration and nationality laws told JamRadio. “ I know Reverend Foster, he is long-committed to the cause, but I worry about the complex rigour of British nationality and immigration legislation which adversely affects members of the Windrush generations specifically. These harmful laws remain firmly in place and in my experience many lawyers, even with decades of practice, still struggle to navigate and comprehend the myriad of statutes."
Euen Herber-Small (right) tells immigration minister Seema Malhotra (left) A Windrush Commissioner must have teeth and tongue to bring meaningful justice to decades of historical unfairness from the Home Office
During Covid-lockdown Mr. Herbert-Small worked closely with a member of the Windrush Working Group — set up by, then Home Sec. Priti Patel to bring legal reforms to decades of unfair immigration and nationality legislation. These reforms carried long awaited remedies for members of the Windrush Generations and their descendants who suffered historical injustices, the remedies are now enshrined in the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
Euen Herbert-Small tells Prime Minister Theresa May in 2018 that unfiar British nationality laws have impacted three generations of his family who were born British Subjects including his grandfather who came to the UK in 1955 as part of the Windrush Generation.
He told Jam Radio News that the Home Office also ran consultations with British nationality Barristers on these reforms. But despite the legislative changes, elements inside the Home Office continue to ignore many of these reforms, with no one holding their feet to the fire. He said the case of Mr. Augustin Castang, (a Windrush victim who had been denied access to the UK for 4 decades) demonstrates a clear example of this deriliction of duty from the Home Office to right the wrongs of its Sandal.
The Home Office insists Foster will act “without fear or favour,” and Home Secretary Yvette Cooper praised his “deep understanding” of the community. But critics argue the optics are hard to ignore: a £130,000-a-year role, three days a week, with no statutory powers to compel reform.
Lorraine King posted on X
The government has announced the appointed of a £130,000-a-year Windrush Commissioner.
— Lorraine King (@lorrainemking) June 18, 2025
Here's what the government hasn't done:
Offered decent compensation to a majority of the Windrush Scandal victims.
Given them the same legal help as the Post Office and blood scandal victims. https://t.co/3qqcNnDBwO
Foster himself has pledged to deliver change that the Windrush generations can see and feel, and to scrutinise the compensation scheme. But with no legal mandate or legal experience, and a government still resisting calls to both, relinquish control of the scheme and for a full public inquiry, many fear this is justice in name only.
Melissa Sigodo also posted on X asking:
I wonder if the new Windrush commissioner Reverend Clive Foster will call upon the govt to give Windrush scandal victims the critical legal advice they need to process their claims.
— Melissa Sigodo (@melissasigodo) June 18, 2025
Seeing as they are getting less than what they could be owed when they don’t have a lawyer…
As Windrush Day approaches, the question remains: is this appointment a turning point—or another chapter in the long history of institutional evasion?
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