Priti Patel has attracted criticism after she praised campaigner Paulette Wilson – who died suddenly on Thursday – for highlighting the “terrible injustices faced by the Windrush generation”.
Wilson came to Britain from Jamaica aged 10 in the late 1960s, and spent two years under the threat of deportation. She spent some time in a detention centre before being told she could stay in the UK in 2017.
Just last month she delivered a petition to Downing Street, calling for action to address the failings that led to the scandal. Many members of the Windrush generation are yet to receive compensation from the Home Office.
Writing on Twitter, Patel – the home secretary – said: “Deeply saddened by the passing of Paulette Wilson who dedicated her last years to highlight the terrible injustices faced by the Windrush generation. Together we must continue on her mission to right the wrongs.”
She drew immediate criticism, with many social media users highlighting the government’s Hostile Environment policy.
Addressing Patel, writer Gary Younge said: “The brassneck. [Wilson] only dedicated her last years to fighting injustice because you treated her unjustly. I’m sure she had better plans for her sixties than fighting deportation from her own country.”
Labour MP David Lammy, the shadow justice minister, said that if Patel wanted to continue Wilson’s mission, she should “end the Hostile Environment today”.
Commentator Owen Jones added: “You voted for those terrible injustices to happen.”
Here are some of the most outraged replies to Patel’s intervention.
Related: Windrush campaigner who died ‘had spirit broken by government’
Since you are here
Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.
Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.
Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.
If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.
To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.
The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.
The shop can be found here.
You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .
