Singer Beverley Knight says Windrush generation has been treated ‘abysmally’

Singer Beverley Knight said the Windrush generation has been treated “abysmally” by “successive government bodies”.

The 52-year-old, best known for her hit Shoulda Woulda Coulda, was speaking to the PA news agency after presenting Diversity Music Community 1st, in her home city of Wolverhampton, with a £244,452 National Lottery Heritage fund grant for their Windrush: The Music, The Sound, The Legacy project.

She told PA: “I don’t think the Windrush generation have been treated well at all, I don’t think they have really been recognised traditionally, the music was sidelined on radio.

“It’s only kind of in recent years you’re seeing the success of the kids really doing well around the world, globally.

“We all know about the Windrush scandal, which continues, and I try not to go too political, but just it’s hard to watch as someone who is the daughter of Windrush parents, to see people of my mum and dad’s generation be treated abysmally, because of errors made by successive government bodies.

“And then to have the compensation that they’re rightfully owed just be drip, drip, drip, kind of delivered to them, and in some cases, nothing at all, so people are dying before anything is done to rectify the wrongs, and it’s shameful.

“And for me, it’s reflected in the response to Hurricane Melissa, sorry, Jamaica helped Britain in her time of need, and I would very much like to see Britain return the favour.”

The Windrush scandal, now referred to by some victims as the Home Office scandal, erupted in 2018 when British citizens were wrongly detained, deported or threatened with deportation, despite having the right to live in Britain.

Windrush: The Music, The Sound, The Legacy, will aim to explore the impact of the generation – who migrated to the UK from the Caribbean after the Second World War in order to fill labour shortages due to losses during the war - on the music and culture of Wolverhampton from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Diversity Music Community 1st, which has been presented with the grant, aims to honour the histories of Caribbean-born DJs, musicians and community leaders who have helped shape Wolverhampton’s cultural identity.

Knight said British music would look very different without the impact of the Windrush generation.

She added: “From Massive Attack to The Specials, Beat, Selecter to Soul II Soul, Omar, me, and then later on, you look at the kids who are coming through now, so much of them are from the Windrush generation.

“It’s part and parcel of what is Britain, the integration, the meshing of different sounds, when punk met reggae, it was completely and utterly British.

“You couldn’t have UK garage without the Windrush generation, that would not exist, because of the different blends of cultures that have come together to give you garage, it is quintessentially British, and directly a result of Windrush.

“So it’s these islands that were so far away, once colonies of Britain, and they’ve not just left a mark, but transformed the music landscape permanently, it’s so important to recognise these stories, and to tell these stories of British music and British music history.

“Especially because British music history packs such a punch around the world, and so much of that is due to these folk who came over and had no idea what their sons, daughters and grandchildren were going to do, look at what they’ve done, it was amazing.”

Beginning her career in 1994, Knight has achieved two UK top 10 solo singles and four UK top 10 albums and was made an MBE in 2006 for her services to music.

Knight has also pursued an acting career, which has seen her appear in West End productions of Cats, The Bodyguard and Sister Act. She will appear in the West End production of Marie And Rosetta as rock and roll innovator Sister Rosetta Tharpe next year.

Funding for Windrush: The Music, The Sound, The Legacy comes from The National Lottery’s Because Of You campaign, fronted by The Traitors presenter Claudia Winkleman, which aims to celebrate projects that change the lives of people every day.