Dear IRR News subscriber, Apologies if you have not received our weekly emails over the last few weeks, we have had a few problems, which I hope, have now been rectified. This week, we carry a blog post reproduced with permission of JENGbA about one family’s experience of the joint enterprise laws. And Jenny Bourne
The new wasteland
It is poverty not migration that is changing the nature of Britain’s towns and cities. If you want to feel and smell austerity, go to Hatfield – in leafy Hertfordshire, with the rolling hills that EM Forster loved. It provides a microcosm of the changing social geography of Britain today.[1] Hatfield was, until the 1990s,
When I thought all hope was lost, then came JENGbA
Below we reproduce a blog by an African-Caribbean mother who recounts the family nightmare of navigating the criminal justice system which was only relieved when she made contact with the campaigning organisation Joint Enterprise – Not Guilty by Association (JENGbA). The day was Thursday 13 December 2012. It was cold and windy. I had just
IRR News 15-21 February 2013
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, we have a round-up of racially motivated attacks and convictions since the beginning of the year; a report on a recently closed consultation which will impact on Travellers and Gypsies and a review of a brilliant new play which tells the story of the campaigning Glasgow Girls. And in
Spotlight on racial violence: January-February 2013
An overview of racist attacks and convictions over the last two months. Last week David Cameron said he was ‘disturbed’ to hear that the proposed building of a small mosque in his Witney constituency had been cancelled as a result of racist threats to burn it down. It should not, however, have been that much
Glasgow Girls impress
A new musical based on the story of the Glasgow Girls, who fought for the rights of asylum seeking children, is a masterpiece. The Glasgow Girls was the name given to a group of young girls who began campaigning after a school friend was arrested for deportation in a dawn raid. A campaign emerged at
Gypsies and Travellers concerned over Coalition plans
The government’s recent planning policy developments are set to ‘make things worse for the poorest Gypsies and Travellers’. A number of Gypsy and Traveller groups have recently announced their concern over the latest planning proposals from the Coalition government. The Irish Traveller Movement in Britain (ITMB), Friends, Families and Travellers (FFT) and JUST West Yorkshire
Facing up to racial violence
The IRR publishes a report today on how racial violence is shaping the UK. Racial violence: facing reality warns that attacks on BME individuals are actually spreading to new areas of the country, as under the impact of globalisation and austerity measures, populations swiftly change; and points to the potential dangers in ‘decanting’ those affected
IRR News 8-14 February 2013
Dear IRR News subscriber, This week, the IRR publishes a report, Racial violence: facing reality, on how racial violence is shaping the UK, read the press release or download the report here (pdf file, 180kb). Jon Burnett assesses a report from British Future which advocates a new patriotism, while Ryan Erfani Ghettani reviews a report by
British Future and the new patriotism
A report by the British Future think-tank suggests the need for a new British patriotism. Patriotism is back on the agenda. It is a patriotism which draws on the success of the feel-good pride said to have been generated through last year’s Olympics. It is a patriotism which seeks to harness the widespread bunting-brandishing joy