Pat McFadden: Government holds 'negative' view on migration

Speaking in a heated Commons debate on the Home Office's treatment of the Windrush generation, the Labour MP for Wolverhampton South East urged Home Secretary Amber Rudd to do more to address the 'legitimate grievances' of migrants from the Commonwealth.

He also called for new measures to prevent a similar scandal from happening in future involving legal migration from other nations.

Theresa May visited the E&S's Queen Street offices on Monday, where she offered an apology to Jamaica-born Wolverhampton grandmother Paulette Wilson who was threatened with deportation despite having lived and worked in the UK for 50 years.

Ms Rudd has announced that the Home Office will waive citizenship fees for the Windrush generation and their families and any charges for returning to the UK for those who had retired to their countries of origin after making their lives here.

It will also scrap language and British knowledge tests and bring in financial compensation.

Mr McFadden told MPs: “This is what happens when we have a national debate and a Government mentality that always sees migration in negative terms as something to be feared and resisted.

"Any Government has the right to take measures against illegal immigration, but the point is that the Windrush generation were not illegal.

"They came here legally, they worked here legally and they have stayed here legally."

He went on to ask: "What more can the Home Secretary do not only to address the legitimate grievances of the Windrush generation, but to prevent this from being repeated with legal migration from elsewhere, be it the sub-continent or the European Union?”

In response the Home Secretary said: "He is right that we need to make sure that systems are put in place so that, should this happen again, ​the Home Office spots it sooner than it did in this case.

"I recognise the fact that that needs to be done by a more personal approach. I will also make sure that we put in systems that look at some of the group results.

"Sometimes what we have is a situation in which individual caseworkers see one thing and the consequences are not being compiled and reported on. I recognise the point he makes, but I believe that we are putting in place points to address it."