How should we feel watching the Empire Windrush 75th celebrations this weekend?

IMAGINE waking up tomorrow to a letter wrongly stating you are illegal and may be deported.

How should we feel watching the Empire Windrush 75th celebrations this weekend?

Thousands of people were severely affected by the “hostile environment” while at least 83 people were actually deported by the Home Office that itself had failed to keep records of who had permission to stay.

It was only in the wake of the scandal that the government agreed to set up the annual celebrations, in a begrudging nod to the contribution immigrants have made in this country.

No doubt there will be flag waving and speeches from politicians who would pretend that the scandal has all been dealt with, and it’s time to move on. But it is so far from being resolved.

At the start of the year home secretary Suella Braverman confirmed she would not implement some reform proposals that had been previously accepted by the government, including introducing a migrants’ commissioner and running reconciliation events with Windrush families.

In February analysis of progress towards meeting 30 agreed post-Windrush reform promises showed just eight had been met, 13 had been partially met and nine had not been met or dropped.

The Home Office unit responsible for reforming the department after the Windrush crisis has been quietly disbanded.

Just last month Home Office minister Lord Murray was heckled by people caught up in the scandal who are still waiting for compensation and documentation – five years after the government first apologised.

One of the most shameful episodes of the scandal itself was how the prime minister, David Cameron, actively requested the Home Office to come up with outrageous examples of hardline treatment of immigrants that could be used for political point scoring.

Despite Amber Rudd resigning because of the scandal, it was Theresa May who was home secretary from 2010-2016 when the hostile environment was in full effect. How quickly we forget. She is being cast as the voice of reason in the wake of Boris Johnson’s chaotic downfall.

The Conservative government is still trying to get the Illegal Migration Bill through Parliament in the hope that it would help to reduce the number of small boats illegally crossing the Channel.

The Windrush scandal was really just an element of a wider state-sanctioned hostility that has been in place for many years.

Don’t kid yourselves during the belated celebrations this week that the hostile environment isn’t still alive and well.