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Scots Home Office Blocked by Climate Protestors Over Migrant Policy

Published

4 months ago

January 4, 2022

Protestors from Extinction Rebellion had barricaded themselves against each other and the gates outside the Glasgow Home office.

From around 7 a.m. on Monday, December 20, the activists chained themselves together to barricade the entrance to the government building. The Protesters from Extinction Rebellion Scotland and Glasgow have called out Polluters and are demanding that the UK Government end its “hostile environment policy towards migrants.”

The demonstration is believed to be in response to the passage on Home Secretary Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders Bill through the House of Commons. The bill was introduced after 27 people died while attempting to cross the English Channel in November, a journey that has left 166 people dead or missing since 2014.

Ms Patel’s letter, which passed through the Commons last week, aims to reduce these crossings while also changing the way asylum claims are processed. A spokesperson for XR Scotland said: “The Nationality and Borders Bill must be stopped.

It’s beyond cruel to criminalize people seeking asylum. It’s state-sanctioned murder to grant immunity to border force staff if refugees die after being pushed back into French waters.”

On Sunday, a number of equality organizations joined forces in a mass protest against the Bill outside 10 Downing Street in London.

Shane, a 67-year-old retired social worker who is taking part in the protest, stated: “The UK’s heartless hostile environment policy routinely denies migrants their human rights, preventing access to employment, healthcare, housing and other basic services

“The world’s richest 10 per cent are responsible for half of global emissions compared with the poorest half emitting only 10 per cent, yet it will be the communities least responsible that are forced to flee their homes on a scale never seen before as the climate crisis escalates.

The hostile environment must end, there can be no climate justice without migrant justice.”

Last week, ministers in Scotland and Wales jointly condemned measures in the UK Government’s Nationality and Borders Bill as “barbaric,” while also warning that the legislation may require approval from the legislatures in Edinburgh and Cardiff.

Scottish Social Justice Secretary Shona Robison and her Welsh counterpart Jane Hutt wrote a joint letter to Ms Patel to demand that the United Kingdom reconsider its “hostile environment strategy” and create “sufficient safe and legal routes” for asylum seekers

Ms Robison and Ms Hutt said: “This legislation contains measures that will prevent migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, including the barbaric suggestions for ‘push-back’ exercises involving enforcement officials seeking to repel small boats.”

“Rather than help matters, these measures will delay rescues and endanger lives.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “As part of our New Plan for Immigration, we are establishing safe and legal routes to enable the most vulnerable people to start a new life in safety in the UK.

“People should not make life-threatening journeys to the UK and should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. We are changing the law so those who facilitate dangerous crossings can face life behind bars.”

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Deborah James Awarded Damehood After Raising Over £3,000,000 for Charity

Published

5 days ago

May 13, 2022

rebeccarosecook

Deborah James has said she is ‘blown away’ after being made a Dame for her tireless campaigning for cancer charities.

The inspirational broadcaster and author announced earlier this week that she is receiving hospice care at home after stopping her cancer treatment, and has said she ‘could have weeks to live at most’.

In recent days, the You, Me & The Big C host has raised over £3million for charities that have helped her over the past five years, through her Bowelbabe Fund.

After calls for her to receive the Royal honour, it has been revealed that Deborah is now officially Dame Deborah James.

‘I don’t know what to say. I’m blown away and feel incredibly honoured,’ she said reacting to the news.

She added ‘I don’t feel like I deserve this. I can’t tell you what this means to my family, it’s so much to take in.’

Her husband Sebastien Bowen, said the public support of the fundraiser has ‘brought a piercing ray of light and hope into this, the darkest of times’, adding that the Damehood is ‘so truly deserved’.

Downing Street said the Queen was ‘pleased to approve the honour of damehood’ be bestowed upon Deborah James.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson hailed Dame Deborah as an figure of inspiration to the country.

‘If ever an honour was richly deserved, this is it,’ the leader said.

‘Deborah has been an inspiration and her honesty, warmth and courage has been a source of strength to so many people.’

Thank you for all your incredible work.

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EuroMillions: UK ticket holder claims £184m jackpot

Published

7 days ago

May 11, 2022

rebeccarosecook

One lucky ticket-holder’s life has changed forever after winning the £184million EuroMillions jackpot. It means they have become the biggest ever National Lottery winner, operator Camelot has said.

Whoever they are, they have knocked the anonymous winner of £170million in October 2019 off the top spot. They have also become the National Lottery’s 14th winner of more than £100million.

The winner, who is yet to be named, is also the second person in the UK to win the EuroMillions jackpot this year, after someone bagged £109million in February.

The winning numbers were 3, 25, 27, 28 and 29 – plus the Lucky Star numbers 4 and 9. One ticket matched all seven numbers to win £184,262,899.10.

Senior winners’ adviser for the National Lottery, Andy Carter said: “What an amazing night for one UK ticket-holder who has scooped the incredible £184million EuroMillions jackpot – they have become the UK’s biggest ever National Lottery winner.”

The claim will now go through a validation process to ensure terms and conditions are met and once the ticket has been validated the winner can choose whether or not to remain anonymous.

What would you do with all that money?

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Baby P’s Killer Mum Tracey Connelly Set for Prison Release after Judge Gives Green Light

Published

2 weeks ago

May 5, 2022

rebeccarosecook

Tracey Connelly, the mother of Baby P, who died after months of abuse, will be released from prison after the Parole Board rejected a Government challenge against its ruling.

The decision comes after Justice Secretary Dominic Raab appealed against the recommendation to free Tracey Connelly from prison.

Connelly was jailed at the Old Bailey in 2009 for causing or allowing the death of her 17-month-old son Peter at their home in Tottenham, north London, on August 3 2007.

Dominic Raab said the decision demonstrated why the system “needs a fundamental overhaul – including a ministerial check for the most serious offenders”.

Now 40, this was Connelly’s fourth parole review after she was released on licence in 2013 but recalled to prison in 2015 for breaching her parole conditions by “developing intimate personal relationships” online and inciting another resident at her accommodation to engage in “inappropriate sexualised behaviour”.

In a statement, the Parole Board said: “In summary, the judge has concluded that the panel did take into consideration all evidence mentioned by the application and made rational conclusions.

“The reconsideration decision clarifies that the weight given to the evidence given by the Secretary of States witnesses, who supported release, and the proposed external controls, was proportionate and the reasons were clearly outlined in the decision letter.

“The final ground on the rationality of the outcome was also rejected on the grounds of not reaching the threshold, as defined by law, for becoming unreasonable.”

The Parole Board, which is independent of government, received a formal request to review the decision to free Connelly last week.