The Windrush Betrayal: Exposing the Hostile Environment

　　How do you pack for a one-way journey back to a country you left when you were eleven and have not visited for fifty years?

　　Amelia Gentleman's exposé of the Windrush scandal shocked the nation, and led to the resignation of Amber Rudd as Home Secretary. Her tenacious reporting revealed how the government's 'hostile environment' immigration policy had led to thousands of law-abiding people being wrongly classified as illegal immigrants, with many being removed from the country, and many more losing their homes and their jobs.

　　In The Windrush Betrayal, Gentleman tells the full story of her investigation for the first time. Her writing shines a light on the people directly affected by the scandal and illustrates the devastating effect of politicians becoming so disconnected from the world outside Westminster that they become oblivious to the impact of their policy decisions. This is a vitally important account that exposes deeply disturbing truths about modern Britain.

　　Review

　　A timely reminder of why journalism matters and what truly great journalists can achieve. Written with both humanity and humility, it reveals, step-by-step, how one of the most shocking scandals of recent years came about and how it was uncovered while always giving voice to the people who matter most, the victims of the Windrush Scandal themselves. -- Professor David Olusoga

　　Gentleman boldly chronicles the devastating reality of a scandal that illegalised, imbruted and abandoned British citizens. With the same tenacity that she used to expose the truth of Windrush in the first place, Gentleman ruthlessly uncovers the crimes that were committed, the injustices that are yet to be rectified and the wounds that might never be healed. -- David Lammy MP

　　It is impossible to overstate the importance of this heartbreaking book. Amelia Gentleman details, with painstaking, harrowing clarity, how the unfettered hostility of Theresa May's so-called 'hostile environment' reached into the blameless lives of British residents and left them reeling under the threat of prosecution and even deportation. This incredible story reminds us that we live in an era where power increasingly refuses to listen. The rest of us must. -- James O'Brien

　　Gentleman’s reporting marks an important moment for independent, investigative journalism, demonstrating how it can hold power to account in order unequivocally to change people’s lives for the better. -- Katharine Viner (Editor-in-Chief, Guardian News & Media)

　　The Windrush Betrayal reads like dystopian fiction... Many Britons are acquainted with the Windrush persecution. But this book by Amelia Gentleman, the Guardian journalist who broke the story, exposes it in its shocking reality. Gentleman meticulously details the specifics that led to one of the biggest political scandals of the decade... Through first-person accounts from the people affected, The Windrush Betrayal knits together a devastating picture of the human cost of punitive immigration policies... Gentleman's reporting proves why an independent free press is so vital for democracy. The book is dense with facts, but the real thread running through it is a human one. -- Reni Eddo-Lodge, Guardian

　　A withering account of what happened when the Conservative party decided, in the words of the then home secretary Theresa May, “to create here in Britain a really hostile environment for illegal migration”… If much of this story is familiar that’s largely due to Gentleman, whose reporting for the Guardian on this shameful episode saw her named journalist of the year at the 2018 British journalism awards… Gentleman’s book contains valuable lessons – about the importance of maintaining paper-based archives, of allowing citizens direct access to officials, and of supporting investigative journalism., Observer, BOOK OF THE WEEK

　　Campaign journalism at its most urgent., Evening Times, BOOK OF THE WEEK

　　Recounts and exposes some of the most egregious effects of the “hostile environment” approach., Financial Times

　　Untangles the wretched story of how Home Office intransigence and inertia ruined the lives of so many people who were the descendents of the first Windrush generation., Times

　　A devastating account of how British citizens brought to Britain as children by their parents, and who had made their working lives here, were accused of being illegal immigrants, persecuted and forcibly deported. One of the most shameful episodes in our history is revealed, bringing tears for the victims, hurrahs for the author and shame for the government that oversaw the policy. -- Claire Tomalin, New Statesman, Books of the Year