Below we reproduce a letter from the StopWatch Youth Group to the Home Secretary on ‘what stop and search really means for young people and why this consultation is only the beginning’. Dear Home Secretary, Over the past three years, the StopWatch Youth Group has been campaigning, educating and advocating for changes to stop and
IRR News 13-19 September 2013
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week we have a report on a meeting held by police to report back on their collaboration with the UK Border Agency on Operation Nexus and we also have a report on a police operation in Woolwich following the murder of Lee Rigby. And news from across the UK, police have
Operation Nexus fears not allayed
A recent meeting with Met police failed to reassure migrant rights groups and activists that Operation Nexus is not harmful. Operation Nexus, launched a year ago as a collaboration between the Metropolitan police and the UK Border Agency was designed to clear foreign criminals off the streets of London and send them home. Immigration officers
Counter-terrorism policing in Woolwich
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
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