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Three of Lambeth’s four Labour Party candidates gathered this week to celebrate Windrush Day, before taking a more serious note by the African and Carribean War Memorial in Windrush Square.
Bell Ribeiro-Addy who is standing in the newly created Clapham and Brixton Hill constituency told the Buzz that “Windrush Day is a chance to celebrate the men and women who came to Britain from all over the Commonwealth to rebuild Britain after the Second World War.
We must never forget their contribution or the injustice they and their descendants faced and continue to face”.
Before going off to be interviewed on LBC, the South Londoner was taking a break from campaigning, to raise an early morning glass of orange juice to toast the pioneering generation with her fellow prospective candidates Helen Hayes (standing in Dulwich and West Norwood) and Florence Eshalomi (standing in Vauxhall and Camberwell Green).
The Buzz had invited Lambeth’s four Labour candidates to mark the day, share their views and discuss the party’s manifesto, and the three happily made time in their busy schedules with Eshalomi arriving first, after her school-run.
She chatted freely about her church, growing up in Brixton, and about the nearby memorial for Cherry Groce who was wrongfully shot by police in nearby Normandy Road in 1985.
As we waited for Steve Reed, the borough’s fourth Labour prospective to arrive, Hayes winner of three elections in her consticuency set a respectful tone for the day.
“These Windrush pioneers worked on public transport”, for Royal Mail, in our NHS, on construction sites and in factories, and they brought food, music and culture to a country which had been battered by war, despite experiencing disgraceful racism and discrimination. They became an integral part of the UK, woven into the identity of our country”.
“Many, like the late Sam King MBE, who was later the first Black Mayor of Southwark”, continued Hayes, “had served in the UK armed forces during the war, and came to help with the reconstruction effort”.
Ribeiro-Addy agreed, “we can be rightly proud of the institutions that our community has built to remember the Windrush Generation: from the Black Cultural Archives to the Commonwealth War Memorial”.
But Bell took a stronger stance on the Tories’ shameful treatment of Windrush Pioneers. “The government has reneged on key commitments it made after the Windrush Scandal” she said, “something which was found to be unlawful just this week, they wound down its compensation scheme and doubled down on the Hostile Environment”.
“In the seven years since the scandal came to light, victims have not seen the compensation they deserve” she continued, “and some of the policies that caused so much damage remain in place.
The next Labour government must secure justice for the Windrush Generation with an independent compensation scheme, full implementation of Windrush Lessons Learned, and an end to the hostile environment.
Next week, the Buzz will publish a second article with the candidates’ political views and thoughts on the manifesto. However despite repeated assurances by Reed’s office that he would respond, and even after prompts from his Labour colleagues, the hopeful was sadly a no-show, and my Streatham vote is still undecided.
The four consituencies in the borough and the candidates looking for your vote on 4th July are:
Clapham and Brixton Hill
Conservative – Asha Saroy
Green – Shâo-Lan Yuen
Labour – Bell Ribeiro-Addy
Liberal Democrats – Ben Curtis
Independent – Jon Key
Reform UK – Mark Matlock
Socialist (GB) – Bill Martin
Dulwich and West Norwood
Conservative – Leon Cook
Green – Pete Elliott
Labour – Helen Hayes
Liberal Democrats – Donna Harris
Independent – Mike Spenser
Reform UK – Gary Stevens
Streatham and Croydon North
Conservative – Anthony Boutall
CPA – Magdaline Nzekwue
Green – Scott Ainslie
Labour Co-op – Steve Reed
Liberal Democrats – Claire Bonham
Reform UK – Philip Watson
SDP – Myles Owen
Workers Party – Mohammad Sherwani
Vauxhall and Camberwell Green
Brexit Party – Andrew McGuinness
Conservative – Sarah Bool
Green – Jacqueline Bond
Independent – Salah Faissal
Labour Co-op – Florence Eshalomi
Liberal Democrats – Sarah Lewis
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