Sam Tarry: Labour should consider policy of pausing Windrush deportations

Ilford South representative and opposition frontbencher Sam Tarry has called on the Labour Party to consider the policy of pausing deportations amid controversy over a flight to Jamaica that took off today.

Appearing on Politics Live today, Tarry was asked whether Labour should back pausing deportations until the facts are clearer. He replied: “I think Labour should be thinking about whether that is an appropriate policy, yes, I do think that.

“I don’t think that is our current policy at the moment. I think, though, that Keir is a lawyer, a very experienced lawyer, and he would be looking at this and saying ‘this is very troubling: of 50 people, only 13 ended up getting on that flight’.

“Something is going seriously wrong. Why were there people being pushed on to that flight who hadn’t yet had the time to put their legal appeals in place? That is a real breakdown of trust with communities.”

Tarry was one of more than 60 signatories of a letter organised by Clive Lewis that called on the government to cancel the deportation. Charter flights to Jamaica are particularly controversial due to the Windrush scandal.

Following legal representations, the number of people on the flight was brought down from 50 to 13. Some who were set to be removed reportedly had been victims of modern slavery and some had immediate Windrush relatives.

Tarry said: “Labour is not saying that people shouldn’t face justice. But to be clear, the problem is that why is it there are so many Black males from Jamaica or Jamaican-born that are part of the criminal system? That is what we need to be tackling here.”

Asked whether the flight should be made an exception, he replied: “I think we need to look at each of those cases individually and make sure these aren’t people who have been a victim of the hostile environment. Criminals should be punished, I don’t disagree with that.”

Five local party representatives on Labour’s ruling body who were recently elected with the support of Momentum urged Keir Starmer and Angela Rayner on Tuesday to speak out over the deportation flight before it took place.

Commenting on the deportation flight this week, Labour’s Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds told LabourList: “We know the government has behaved unlawfully in the handling of the Windrush scandal.

“We have raised these issues as a matter of urgency with the Home Office and will be holding the government to account on this. The Home Office must not repeat the injustices of the Windrush scandal.“

Tarry is parliamentary private secretary to Ed Miliband in Labour’s business, energy and industrial strategy team. He is also a parliamentary lead on campaigns and organisation in deputy leader Angela Rayner’s team.