Sheffield Windrush descendant wants action to protect citizenship rights

A Sheffield mum, who was denied a passport because of her Jamaican roots, says the new Home Secretary must get a handle of the Windrush scandal.

Tanya Simms' grandparents came to the UK from the Caribbean in the 60s.

Despite being born in Sheffield to parents who had UK passports, she and her daughter were refused one by the Home Office when they applied in 2016.

She says it's had a huge impact on her life:

"You feel it in your gut. If I'm not a citizen of the UK, where am I a citizen of? You feel like you don't belong to anyone. It's like...who do I identify with? I feel lost.

"It's just made me very upset. I love being in England but it would be nice to be able to travel. I want to be able to see the world. I feel like a prisoner even though I've put into the system. It's just not fair.

"I feel terrible. I haven't been able to sleep at night. I just feel for my daughter - she wants to travel, she'd like to go away with her nannan but she can't do that because of this flaw in the law and I think it needs to change before it affects any more families."

The new Home Secretary Sajid Javid said yesterday his most urgent task is to treat members of the 'Windrush generation' with the fairness they deserve.

Tanya says he should change the law to change to protect the citizenship rights of people like her:

"I think it's disgusting. I do actually think it's disgusting. The people have come over to the country to build the foundations of what we are today. And look, we're all being penalised. It's not right. We're not immigrants - they came over on British colony passports. Jamaica was actually part of a colony at the time."

Tanya's told us she's in talks with the Home Office to resolve her situation - we've asked them for a statement on her case.