Charlotte Tobierre was born in Essex to parents of Saint Lucian and English heritage and is an active member of Windrush Lives.  Her father, Thomas Tobierre, became a victim of the scandal in 2017 after decades of being settled in the UK and has also been interviewed as part of the project.

The interview with Charlotte highlights the emotional toll of the scandal and ongoing issues with the compensation scheme on the Tobierre family.  Charlotte, while self-employed, juggled work and childcare, with providing support for her father, and her late mother, who at the time had sadly been diagnosed with cancer and was receiving gruelling treatment.  Charlotte took on the responsibility of liaising with her local MP, the Home Office, the media, the Kensington Law firm and others on her father’s behalf and has campaigned for the family’s right to receive the compensation they deserve.  The excerpt below focuses on the impact of the scandal on her sense of identity and belonging to Britain.

The interview took place in Chelmsford, in the home of Charlotte’s father, on 20 March 2023.

Copyright & Permissions: Charlotte Tobierre granted the University of London exclusive licence to use this material for (i) academic and teaching activities, (ii) research facilitation and promotion and (iii) reporting or knowledge transfer.  This was done with the understanding that names of third parties would be excluded except for those in the public domain.  This material, including photograph, cannot be reproduced without permission.

Interview by Juanita Cox

Charlotte Tobierre Interview [Excerpt]

KEYWORDS: England, Caribbean, Government, Belonging, Settled, School, Country, White, Germany, Resentment, British, Hostile.

TRANSCRIPT [Excerpt taken from 1:26:23 – 1:28:45]

JC           1:26:23

Has it affected the way you feel connected to the country?

CT          1:27:02

Oh, yeah, 100%, it has. And it’s very strange as a child, when I was at school, and it was a very white school, I remember going to school and people used to say to me, your Dad needs to go back to where he come from. And I remember I never ever told my Mum and Dad, but I used to be really frightened as a kid like, oh my gosh, what if they come and take my Dad and then as I got older, I was like, gosh, how irrational that I was even thinking that and then to be like, fast forwarding, like, it really nearly was a possibility. Yeah, I don’t feel uhm.  No, I don’t feel very British, if I’m honest. I don’t feel uhm because I think I’ve seen that it can be taken away really easily. And I don’t feel, especially the government, as it is now, I don’t think it is inclusive. I think it is hostile. So yeah, it’s a funny way to be it’s, it’s hard because my partner, he was born in Germany, and he’s white, and I, we laugh because he’s, I say, like you, you stand a better chance from someone that’s come in to this [country], but it feels like he’s better belonging here than what I am. And I was born here. It’s like, I feel like almost our feelings are switched. You know, like, I feel like, I’m not really settled here. Not that I don’t belong here. But I don’t feel settled here. Like, it doesn’t feel…

JC           1:28: 27

Like feeling safe, or secure?

CT          1:28:30

Yeah maybe, but I just, I don’t know. Maybe it’s a bit of resentment. Maybe I don’t really like it. Like how this is all played out. Maybe that’s a bit of a point as well.

 

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