A UNIVERSITY of Winchester academic has turned a long-running argument with his wife about the Windrush Generation into a BBC Radio 4 series.

Professor Robert Beckford, director of the university’s Institute for Climate and Social Justice, has made the programme, Windrush: A Family Divided, with his wife Jennifer.

Both Robert and Jennifer are of Caribbean descent, Robert’s family coming to Northampton in the 1950s, while Jennifer, the daughter of a diplomat, arrived in the UK in the 1970s as a teenager. He takes the positive position on Windrush, while Jennifer takes the opposing view.

While Robert has been making programmes for the BBC and Channel 4 for 25 years, Jennifer is new to broadcasting.

Robert explains: “This is based on a genuine family argument which we have been having on and off ever since we’ve been married.

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“This is not unique to our family – this is debate that most Caribbean families have but don’t make public.

“I got fed up with rowing over the dinner table and thought: ‘Why don’t I pitch this to the BBC as a programme idea?’”

The series will be made up of four episodes. The first three will feature an individual theme – identity, economics and politics, while the fourth will be a live debate chaired by Clive Myrie. Both Robert and Jennifer will bring in people from all walks of life to support their arguments.

Among those appearing are former England footballer John Barnes, whose family are from Jamaica, who does not regret coming to the UK. Meanwhile, Jennifer calls on the experiences on Barbara Blake Hannah, the first black reporter on British television in the 1960s, who returned to her native Jamaica to escape racism.

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The couple will also draw on sources closer to home. Robert will speak with his uncle Ken, who came to Britain because he could earn far more as a cabinet maker in Coventry than in Jamaica. He bought his own house at 21 and ended up a wealthy property developer.

On the flip side of the coin, Jennifer speaks to her niece, a teacher born in the UK, who has moved to Jamaica as part of what has become known as the “Blaxodus”.

The programme also considers the effects of the Windrush migration on the West Indies.

The first part of Windrush: A Family Divided is due to go out on June 5 at 11am.