Apology means nothing, says Wolverhampton Windrush grandmother

If Paulette Wilson comes across as cynical and distrustful, then it is understandable.

After all, the Wolverhampton grandmother was locked in a detention centre and threatened with deportation from the country she had called home since she was 10 years old.

It sounds like the actions of some banana republic led by a ruthless dictator but no, this happened right here in the UK.

Home Secretary Priti Patel apologised this week on behalf of successive governments who had failed the Windrush generation, after a independent inquiry found “ignorance and thoughtlessness” on the issue of race.

Many have been irreversibly changed by their ordeals, Mrs Wilson among them. The 64-year-old grew up in Telford after arriving in the UK from Jamaica when she was 10.

She was made to feel like an imposter in the nation she had lived for more than half a century, that she didn't belong and wasn't welcome. For a while it was unclear whether she would remain.

"I haven't moved on but I'm trying," says Mrs Wilson, who admits to being a different person to before this happened.

"I'm not the same person. I was happy-go-lucky, enjoying life."

On her detention, she says: "That was a nightmare, being locked up like a criminal like you have done something really bad. It was scary.

"Things happen to people in life but you don't think about it (that it could happen)."

The Home Secretary said "we must all do better at walking in other people's shoes" and "take responsibility for the failings that led to the unimaginable suffering of this generation".

But Mrs Wilson admits her trust in the Government has been destroyed.

She said: "I went to Parliament and got a few apologies.

"It made me feel why did I have to go through this at my age? Of course it was wrong, it shouldn't have happened. People like us have worked in this country for 50 or 60 years.

"My grandfather was here back in the world war. I found that out through going through this. He fought with the British.

"I can't say nothing good about the Government. They haven't done nothing for nobody. They're making people's lives miserable. I give thanks for life I'm still here.

"The Government haven't done anything for me. They have just apologised and that's it."

Thousands of Windrush victims have begun the process of applying for compensation, which is likely to cost the Government millions.

Mrs Wilson says she is unconvinced she will receive a settlement but that it is not something she is worrying about.

"It would help me pay my bills. If it happens it happens, there is nothing I can say or do."