End this hostile environment

It is a damning indictment of what kind of country we have become when we hear stories of people who have been here for decades being deported or denied healthcare. But let us not forget that Theresa May’s hostile environment impacts more than just the Windrush generation. It poisons the very fabric of our society. It forces landlords, doctors, police officers and others to be suspicious of everyone who ‘could’ be a so-called ‘illegal’ immigrant.

This makes the UK a more hostile place to be for many British citizens too.

Immigrants, whether they arrived in 1948 or 2018, are our neighbours, our friends and our children’s classmates. Respect, love and a good welcome – not hostility – is what they deserve.

This government must stop treating them like the enemy within and focus on the inequality and poverty that is the true enemy tearing our society apart.

So apologies and assurances are not enough. The government must end the hostile environment policy completely. Full stop.