'Devastated' Windrush couple challenge denial of compensation claim

The Home Office refused to renew the UK passports of a Black British former servicewoman and her husband with "devastating" consequences over decades, years after Enoch Powell brought their mothers to England.

- Chris Osuh

Hetticia and Vanderbilt McIntosh had their UK status revoked in the 1970s and 1980s, through no fault of their own. The married parents-of-three were forced to start again in St Lucia, over 4,000 miles away.

The Home Office only gave the couple new passports in 2020 - after news emerged of the Windrush scandal, which involved the forced repatriation of Black, Caribbean and African-born Britons living legally in Britain over decades.

But despite significant disruption to their family life, NHS care and pensions, the McIntoshes were each refused compensation from the Windrush Compensation Scheme three times between 2021 and this year. In 2019, Windrush survivors were told there would be "no cap" on payments. Instead, the scheme has been plagued by knockbacks, delays and desultory offers.

Hetticia was eventually offered £40,000 this year after Southwark Law Centre took on her case. However, Vanderbilt has received a "nil offer". The Home Office has admitted their error by giving him his passport back, but officials say he doesn't qualify for compensation because he entered the UK as a "visitor" in 1993 - the only way he could at the time.