The oral histories on this page tell the history of the Windrush scandal from inside the UK government, from within the Home Office, and from the UK’s High Commissions across the Caribbean region.
For this project, our team visited Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago. We also travelled extensively around the United Kingdom to speak with British government representatives and record their experiences of the Windrush scandal.
Please visit the Interview Keywords section at the bottom of this page for an indexation of all main interview themes.
Arthur Snell
Arthur Snell was the British High Commissioner to Trinidad and Tobago from 2011 until 2014. He currently works as a political commentator and writer. He is the author of "How Britain Broke the World: War, Greed and Blunders from Kosovo to Afghanistan,...
David Fitton CMG
David Fitton CMG was British High Commissioner to Jamaica from 2013 until 2017 where he was responsible for both UK-Jamaica and UK-Bahamas affairs.[T]he terminology is interesting. You say British nationals. In the eyes of the Home Office, they might not have been...
Glyn Williams
Glyn Williams is former Director General for Policy and Strategy in the Border, Immigration and Citizenship system in the Home Office. He led on the design of the UK's immigration system post-Brexit and has worked on reforming the UK's non-EEA immigration system....
Patrick Ashworth
Patrick Ashworth was the British High Commissioner to Belize from 2008 until 2013. He was also stationed in Saint Lucia working with the British High Commission to process visas.The problem seems to have been that the children of the people that came didn't know...
Tony Smith
Tony Smith was Director General of the UK Border Force and retired in March 2013 after 40 years with the Home Office. He now works as a global border security consultant, Managing Director of Fortinus Global Ltd and chairman of the International Border Management...
Victoria Dean
Victoria Dean was the British High Commissioner to Barbados, and non-resident High Commissioner to Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines from 2013 until 2016. Formerly a career diplomat working in...
UK High Commissioner and Home Office Interview Keywords: Afro-Caribbean migration | airlines | Air Passenger Duty (APD) | airport security | Aliens Order 1953 | Amber Rudd | Amelia Gentleman | Andrew Wynter | Antigua and Barbuda | Arawak | Arthur Snell | asylum crisis | automatic deportation | bananas | Bangladesh | Barbados | BBC World Service | Belize | Belizean-Americans | Belmopan | Border Force | border security | breeder document | Brexit | bilateral diplomacy | birth certificate | biometrics | biometric residence permit (BRP) | birth certificate | brain drain | Brazil | Brexit | Bridgetown | British Army Training Support Unit (BATSUB) | British citizens | British High Commission | British High Commissioner | British Honduras | British Nationality Act 1981 | British passports | British royal family | bureaucracy | Canada | Caribs | Caribbean | Caribbean Community (CARICOM) | CARIFORUM | CARICOM Crime and Security Strategy (CCSS) | Caribbean High Commissioner | Central America | Chevening | children | China | Civil Service | Claire Evans | climate change | coalition government | colonial administration | Commonwealth | Commonwealth citizens | Commonwealth Department | Commonwealth Games | Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1962 | Commonwealth Immigrants Act 1968 | Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) | Commonwealth immigration | compliance [hostile] environment | Courtney Walsh | cricket | crime | Crown colony | Croydon | customs | David Cameron | David Comissiong | David Fitton CMG | David Lammy | Department for International Development (DFID) | Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) | digital | digitisation | digital passports | Diplomatic Service | documentary fraud | Dominica | drugs | Eastern Caribbean | electronic travel authority (ETA) | El Salvador | emergency travel documents | energy security | ESTA | EU and EEA lanes | EU Commission | EU Settlement Scheme | European Union (EU) | family reunification | fingerprints | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) | Foreign National Offenders | Foreign Office Archives | fortress Britain | forgery | fraud | Garifuna | Garinagu | George Cadle Price | Glyn Williams | green aliens files | green card system | Grenada | Guatemala | guerrilla diplomacy | Guy Hewitt | Guyana | Haiti | Hayes | Heathrow Airport | Hilary Beckles | Hillingdon Social Services | HM Passport Office (HMPO) | Holborn | Home Office | Home Secretary | honorary consuls | hostile environment | human rights | Human Rights Watch Report | ID cards | Illegal Migration Bill | Immigration Act 1971 | Immigration Act 1988 | Immigration Act 2014 | Immigration and Citizenship | Immigration and Nationality Department (IND) | immigration officer | India | indefinite leave to remain (ILR) | Iron Mountain | Jamaica | Jamaican foreign minister | Japan | Jeremy Heywood | John Reid | Joint Passenger Analysis Units | Kekchi | Kevin Isaac | Kingston | landing cards | landlords | leave to remain | LIAT aircraft | Lunar House | Mark Sedwill | Mayans | media | Mennonites | Mexico | Ministry of Justice | Ministry of National Security | mobile phones | Montego Bay | Mopan | National Crime Agency (NCA) | National Health Service (NHS) | narcotics | National Crime Agency (NCA) | national identity register | National Insurance Number (NIN) | National Identification System (NIDS) | National Windrush Monument | Nicaragua | oil and gas | Olympics | online applications | Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) | outsourcing | overstayers | Pakistan | Panama | passport | passport control | Passport, Immigration and Citizenship Agency (PICA) | Passport Office | Patrick Ashworth | Philip Hammond | points-based system | Port of Spain | ports of entry | Prince Harry | prison | private sector | red tape | registry slip | regularise | remittances | reparations | Reparations Commission | residual rights of Commonwealth citizens | right to remain | Right to Rent Scheme | Roatán | Ronald Reagan | Rwanda | Saint Kitts and Nevis | Saint Lucia | Saint Vincent and the Grenadines | Sajid Javid | Schengen | Scotland | securitisation | self-governing | September 11 attacks | Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce | slavery | small boats scandal | Small Island Developing States (SIDS) | Spanish Central America | sport | statelessness | students | Suella Braverman | terrorism | The Bahamas | The Conservative Party | The Labour Party | The Guardian | Theresa May | Tony Smith | Treasury | threat vector | Trinidad and Tobago | UK-Bahama relations | UK Border Agency (UKBA) | UK-Jamaica relations | UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) | United Nations | United States | University of the West Indies (UWI) | Usain Bolt | Venezuela | Verene Shepherd | Victoria Dean | visa | VFS Global | Washington | Wendy Williams Lessons Learned Review | West Indies Associated States (WIAS) Windrush Children inquiry | Windrush Compensation Scheme | Yardies | young people | Yucatec 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