Home Office accused of "blatant racism" after 'failing to provide' legal advice funding for Windrush scandal compensation, despite granting it for other schemes
The Post Office and infected blood compensation schemes both offer legal advice but Windrush scheme does not receive equal support which victims claim is "blatant racism."
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The Source Exclusive: Home Office accused of “blatant racism” after 'failing to provide' legal advice funding for Windrush scandal compensation despite granting it for other schemes
Claimants of the Windrush compensation scheme who are predominantly Black received significantly less without a lawyer than those who had legal support, a study has found.
STORY BY MELISSA SIGODO
JUNE 17, 2025
Windrush scandal victims have accused the Home Office of “blatant racism” over ‘failing to provide’ legal advice funding for the compensation scheme, despite providing support for other scandals.
According to a study written by the law reform charity Justice, the University of Sussex and the law firm Dechert, claimants of the Windrush compensation scheme who are predominantly Black received significantly less without a lawyer than those who had the critical legal support.
Although the Home Office has provided a £1.5million Advocacy Support Fund with “dedicated advocates from community organisations”, Windrush victims say that this is “not good enough” and that it cannot substitute legal professionals who understand the complexities of their cases.
Now, after years of battling for compensation independently, while the Post Office and infected blood compensation schemes both offer funded legal advice, Windrush scandal victims claim that their lack of legal aid is “blatant racism.”
Carl Nwazota, 50, born in Wembley, London, had his passport taken by the Home Office after applying to renew it in 2000.
With no way of proving he was British, he says he suffered immensely for years due to the Windrush scandal.
After being left unable to work and becoming homeless, Carl says he was eventually driven to suicide.
The father said: “We are the only cohort of victims that is predominantly Black, and we're the only victims that have got no legal aid and no inquiry.
“There's no other explanation. It seems very, very clear. It can only be racism.
“It's just beggars belief. It's blatant racism. The whole thing's been designed to fail from the get-go.”
Carl says that the £1.5million Advocacy Fund announced by the government means that local community organisations who aren’t legal professionals are offering help with applying for compensation but fundamentally aren’t equipped to deal the complexities of the ‘human rights issue.’
Now, almost 25 years since he was first affected by the scandal, at 50-years-old, Carl says he has yet to receive “a penny.”
He said: “I never got anything. I've never seen a penny. They’re having normal people from the community dealing with a scandal that is a human rights issue.
“The Home Office isn’t giving legal support because they’ll have to take it seriously.
“From the minute I saw that application form in 2018, it was clear that legal assistance was needed. From the get-go, from the absolute get-go.
“They just continuously refused, and it is deliberate. I don't want to beat around the bush anymore. I'm not getting any younger and neither are my children. The longer this goes on, the more detrimental effect it has on me, my family, and all the other families and victims as well.”
Charlotte Tobierre's engineer father Thomas Tobierre became a victim of the Windrush scandal and was forced to use his pension to survive while his wife who later died was battling stage four bowel cancer.
Charlotte says that although her father was awarded compensation, her mother who had legal advice received the exact same amount, despite her father being more directly affected by the scandal.
Charlotte said: “My mum had legal support, and she ended up getting the same offer as my dad, and she was still able to work although she had cancer.
“But because she had legal support, her offer was the same as my dad's.”
Similarly to Carl, Charlotte also claims that the Home Office’s decision not to give funding for legal advice is “racist.”
She said: “I don't know what else it could be. The only difference is the skin colour, isn't it? That's the only thing and yet we're the only ones. I think the heart of it is all racism.
“If we were getting legal support and the Post Office victims and infected blood victims weren't, it would be everywhere.”
According to the study, the Windrush compensation scheme has denied two-thirds of applicants.
Charlotte also believes that although there is an advocacy fund, the organisations receiving the funding are not legal professionals and that Windrush scandal victims ‘aren’t respected.’
She said: They might be able to help you, but they're not legal professionals themselves. I still don't think that’s good enough.
“If we said to the Post Office victims, ‘you’re going to have a Post Office Commissioner and we're going to give some money to some local groups’, I think people will be like, "that's not really enough, and it's really not for any scandal”, but it always seems to be enough for us.
“We don’t have the same respect as anyone else. It's quite horrible to think.
“People have not just lost their homes or jobs; they've been taken out of the country. That’s terrible.”
Both Carl and Charlotte are calling for Windrush scandal victims to receive funding for legal advice when applying for compensation, but ultimately, they believe the scheme should be handled independently away from the Home Office.
Charlotte said: “I would love for there to be legal representation for victims. I think every claim, especially the ones that were awarded zero need to be looked at again.”
“I'd love the scheme to be independent and a Windrush inquiry, but short term, I think legal support would be essential at this point. I don't know how it's gone this far without it.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “This Government is determined to ensure that victims of the Home Office Windrush Scandal are heard, that justice is sped up, and that the compensation scheme is run effectively.
“Earlier this year, we launched a £1.5 million Advocacy Support Fund to provide dedicated help from trusted community organisations when victims are applying for compensation.
"We believe this targeted support approach keeps claimants at the heart of our work while maintaining a scheme that is as accessible as possible.
“However, we recognise there is more to be done which is why Ministers are continuing to engage with community groups on improvements to the compensation scheme, and will ask the new Windrush Commissioner to recommend any further changes they believe are required.”
When asked why the Post Office and infected blood scandal schemes received funding for legal support but the Windrush compensation scheme did not, The Home Office said they would not go beyond the statement they provided.
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