‘We are the Lions Mr Manager’ is a small but perfectly formed play which tells the story of the Grunwick strike. A two-hander, it tells a digested version of the Grunwick saga, a major moment in labour history which seems to have faded in the collective memory. The work of the Grunwick 40 campaign over
The IRR’s Sophia Siddiqui reports on a recent demonstration at Yarl’s Wood. The demonstrations outside Yarl’s Wood immigration removal centre are a palpable and direct act of solidarity. Standing facing the detention centre, separated by a prison-like metal fence, barbed wire and security cameras, you can see, wave, and interact with the women inside who
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum and migration 27 October: Agnes Callamard, the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary, and Arbitrary Executions, presents a new report to the UN General Assembly on ‘Unlawful Death of Refugees and Migrants’, download it here. (Der Spiegel, 28
Asylum campaigner John Grayson examines the appalling conditions in privately contracted housing for asylum seekers in south yorkshire. Ann was showing me round her G4S terraced house, on the inner ring road in Doncaster, on a Sunday afternoon in late October. A few days earlier, Ann had been to the local advice ‘drop-in centre’ for
The Institute of Race Relations (IRR) publishes today research showing that EU member states are using laws, aimed at traffickers and smugglers, to criminalise those acting out of humanitarian motives. The rhetoric of EU politicians and its border force, Frontex, may be fuelling far-right extremism, it IRR warns. It has written to the European Commission
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum and migration 20 October: A pregnant asylum seeker living in ‘dangerous housing’ provided by G4S in Doncaster pleads to be moved. (Open Democracy, 20 October 2017) 20 October: The Home Office publishes: Grenfell Tower immigration cases (guidance
In the third of a series, asylum campaigner John Grayson examines the private companies involved in providing services under the Direct Provision (DP) system for asylum seekers in Ireland. ‘Monetizing people (seeking asylum) is unforgivable.’ (Andy Storey, lecturer in political economy at University College Dublin, Dublin InQuirer, 10 May 2017) There were many more companies
A fortnightly resource for anti-racist and social justice campaigns, highlighting key events in the UK and Europe. Asylum and migration 5 October: The Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) calls for evidence on how the Home Office ensures it acts in the ‘best interests’ of unaccompanied asylum seeking children. (ICIBI press release, 5 October 2017)
In the second of a series, campaigner John Grayson examines the asylum markets for private companies involved in providing services under the Direct Provision (DP) system for asylum seekers in Ireland. Who benefits from the system of direct provision? Who benefits from placing so many obstacles in people’s lives and imposing limits on the potential
The Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL) recommendation that Katie Hopkins be allowed to speak in schools, as long as alternative views are presented, is dangerous and potentially misleading, says Bill Bolloten. Last month the journalist Katie Hopkins announced a series of school talks for 14 to 16-year-olds, which she has branded the ‘Stand Strong
