At the start of the run-up to the 2015 election, John Grayson, a campaigner in South Yorkshire, examines the main political parties’ line on asylum. ‘The UK has a proud history of offering sanctuary to those who need it.’ A Home Office spokeswoman on Channel 4 News after the disclosure that the Home Office had
News Service
Calendar of racism and resistance (31 October-13 November 2014)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum seekers and refugees 3 November: The trial of three G4S guards on charges of the manslaughter of Jimmy Mubenga, during a deportation in October 2010, begins at the Old Bailey. The court is told the guards repeatedly
Cuguano and the mass movement against slavery
A new book on Ottoboah Cuguano brings to life the history of eighteenth century anti-slavery agitation. In June 1985 the Daily Mail reacted to and sought to lampoon Lambeth Council’s announcement that they planned to name some thirty-five council buildings after prominent black historical figures. ‘This plaque honours the memory of Mister Cuguana — Mr Who?’
IRR News 17 – 30 October 2014
Dear IRR News subscriber, In a week in which Foreign Office ministers implied that preventing migrant deaths in the Mediterranean Sea was not in the British interest, and a Conservative councillor in Maidenhead joked that the way to speed up Traveller evictions would be to ‘execute them’, Frances Webber provides a staunch defence of the
Calendar of racism and resistance (17-30 October 2014)
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Policing and criminal justice October: HM Inspectorate of Constabulary publishes a report: An inspection of undercover policing in England and Wales. Download it here. 17 October: The Guardian reveals the stories behind the statistics and the human toll
Holding football to account
IRR News speaks to Lord Ouseley about his twenty years of kicking racism out of football. When Herman Ouseley set up Let’s Kick Racism out of Football over twenty years ago, one of the driving factors was the rawness and frequency of racist abuse forcing people away from the game. ‘Football had become a game
Sixteen years of marching
For the sixteenth year, families and friends of those that have died in custody marched on Downing Street at the weekend. Behind the banner of the United Families and Friends Campaign, new families were walking in the procession including the family members of Rubel Ahmed, who died in Morton Hall immigration removal centre earlier this
Human rights – at the government’s discretion
There is more to the Tories’ proposals on human rights and free movement than mere electioneering. The October 2014 Conservative party conference was dominated by justice minister Chris Grayling’s announcement that a future Conservative government will repeal the Human Rights Act, replace it with a British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, and ignore unwelcome rulings
Islamophobia, loyalty and the treason debate
As the coalition government considers a revival of treason laws, sections of the media are hunting for national traitors and their fellow-travellers. No one would dispute the facts. An estimated 500 young British Muslims are fighting in Syria and Iraq, and an unknown number of these have joined the Islamic State. Yet instead of looking
Trial of three G4S officers to begin
Next week, on Monday 3 November, the trial of three G4S officers accused of the manslaughter of Jimmy Mubenga will begin. Jimmy Mubenga died on 12 October 2010 on board a plane at Heathrow airport during his deportation to Angola. He was initially held at Brook House, which is also operated by G4S, and then