Is racial profiling being carried out by counter-terrorism police in South London following the death of Lee Rigby? On 1 June 2013, a group of friends driving through Woolwich in the early evening were intercepted by police officers apparently from the Met’s Counter Terrorism command, SO15. According to youth worker Husani Williams, who was driving
News Service
IRR News 6-12 September 2013
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, we’d like to draw your attention to two meetings the IRR is holding in October. The first, on Thursday 3 October ‘Bad news for refugees’ is a conversation between Greg Philo and Frances Webber, on media coverage and government policy on asylum issues. The second, on Thursday 17 October
G4S occupation activists acquitted
At the end of August, at Horsham Magistrates’ court, two campaigners were acquitted of aggravated trespass – an eight-hour occupation of the roof of the G4S Surrey HQ in July 2012. Chris Osmond and Shiar Youssef, from No Borders and the Boycott Israel Network, occupied the roof of the G4S HQ in leafy Surrey to
Family marks ten years since the death of Mikey Powell
The family of Mikey Powell marked the ten years since his death with a vigil outside West Midlands Police HQ and an inspirational meeting. On Saturday 7 September, family and friends of Mikey Powell as well as the families of others such as Joy Gardner, Sean Rigg, Azelle Rodney, Habib ‘Paps’ Ullah, Lloyd Butler and
Campaign to save the Public Sector Equality Duty
Groups have been fighting to prevent the government from watering down or dispensing altogether with the one part of the law which allows us to challenge institutional discrimination. Following the Macpherson recommendations, the 2000 Race Relations Amendment Act introduced a duty on public bodies to promote equality and the need to assess policy in terms
Two public events in October at the IRR
In October 2013, the IRR will be holding two public events at its Kings Cross office. The first, on Thursday 3 October, ‘Bad news for refugees’, is a conversation between Greg Philo and Frances Webber, on media coverage and government policy on asylum issues. Greg Philo is the Research Director of the Glasgow Media Group
IRR News 30 August – 5 September
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, Frances Webber argues that the government’s proposed Lobbying Bill, which was supposed to address parliamentary corruption scandals may end up gagging community groups, including anti-racists. We also reproduce her submission to a current government consultation on migrants’ access to the NHS. In other news, the Independent Police Complaints Commission
Policing immigration through the NHS
Below we reproduce a submission to a current government consultation by Frances Webber, a retired immigration barrister. Response to consultation document ‘Controlling immigration – regulating migrant access to health services in the UK’. I am responding as a recently retired barrister specialising since the early 1980s in immigration casework. I do not believe that a
The lobbying bill: a minefield for anti-racist groups
Legislation currently going through parliament which was supposed to address parliamentary corruption scandals may end up gagging community groups, including anti-racists, instead. In the wake of a rash of corruption scandals which revealed the ubiquity and dominance of corporate interests at Westminster,[1] the government was forced to take action to regulate corporate lobbying. It used
IRR News 23-29 August 2013
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, we highlight demonstrations taking place across Europe in protest at continuing violence against Roma communities in the Czech Republic. And news from across the UK, Tower Hamlets Council has apologised unreservedly for failings in the care of 15-year-old Alex Kelly who ‘wanted to be white’. He was found hanged