Dear IRR News subscriber,

This week the IRR publishes the October 2015 issue of our journal Race & Class, with a lead article by Mark McGovern on ‘State violence and the colonial roots of collusion in Northern Ireland.’ The article is particularly timely as the Pitchford Inquiry, examining undercover police spying on family justice campaigns, commenced in London on 7 October.

We only have a few places left for a Race & Class meeting on 15 October, where Mark McGovern will discuss with Suresh Grover (The Monitoring Group) the issues around undercover policing, state violence, the militarisation of policing and the colonial roots of counter-insurgency practices.

Earlier this year, a policy change described by some observers as ‘cruel and inhumane’ was introduced relating to Gypsies and Travellers, and we publish a financial appeal from the National Federation of Gypsy Liaison Groups (NFGLG) to fund a legal challenge. And we also have news of a solidarity tour of the US by families of those who have died in police custody in the UK.

We republish an article by Frances Webber which first appeared on the EU Law Analysis blog, which warns against new mechanisms by the EU against asylum seekers. And IRR News remembers ‘a pillar of the anti-fascist movement’, Ken Leech, who died recently.

Finally, we have our regular events listing and calendar of racism and resistance, a fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe.

IRR News team