The numbers game around immigration statistics has turned into a bloody battle. In January, Polly Toynbee called the Coalition’s benefits campaign to stir up ‘prejudice against the poor'[1] a ‘bloody battle’. It had, she wrote, initiated a ‘clever marketing’ campaign ‘where slippery figures abound’ as part of a ‘virulent debate’ designed to stir up ‘a
No Borders Convergence
London No Borders, Goldsmiths students and other groups are organising a convergence in London between 13 and 18 February. The Convergence will draw together a plethora of experiences relating to restrictions on free movement and will provide a space for people to share skills and create strategies for further action. The Convergence has been set
G4S and asylum seekers’ housing
Below we reproduce a letter signed by academics in the Yorkshire region expressing concerns over the awarding of a housing contract to a private company. As researchers and university teachers in the fields of housing and immigration in the Yorkshire region we oppose the plans of the Coalition government, through the UK Border Agency (UKBA),
Joint enterprise, racism and BME communities
An interview with Gloria Morrison, Campaign Coordinator of JENGbA (Joint Enterprise – Not Guilty by Association) which is a prisoners’ support group made up of the friends and families of people convicted under the doctrine of joint enterprise. Liz Fekete: Since its launch in 2010, JENGbA has pointed out that the law on joint enterprise
Victory for campaign against daft deportation
A respected academic has won his fight against deportation on the ground that his bank balance fell below £800. This is the sort of story that the tabloids would love if it was about a sturdy British fight against a barmy EU directive or health and safety regulation. But because it’s about an outspoken Muslim
Gill Butler 1942-2012
Remembering a unique campaigner for asylum and human rights. Gill Butler was a dedicated campaigner for the rights of asylum seekers and against the injustices of the asylum system. A trained, specialist nurse until she retired, she brought this knowledge to bear in her work as both Chair of Yarl’s Wood Befrienders and as a
Asians in Britain
A new learning resource, Asians in Britain[1] produced by the British Library[2], explores the contribution that South Asians have made to Britain’s cultural, social and economic life. Focusing on the period 1858-1950, this online resource debunks prevailing myths about the Asian presence in Britain, and the tendency to associate this presence solely with post-World War
Abu Qatada decision causes alarm – to rights activists
As the prime minister derides the European Court of Human Rights as a ‘small claims court’, it isn’t just the anti-human rights brigade who are worried by its recent judgment. ‘Once again, he has made fools of us’, announced the Telegraph,[1] in response to the Strasbourg court’s ruling that Omar Othman, aka Abu Qatada, the
The international language of football
Reading of the allegations of racism in football, it struck me as the more sad, that, over the years, football has been for me the great leveller, the international language which speaks across countries, class and gender. It was 1986, my husband and I were on the cheapest of cheapest jolly holidays in Tunisia, packaged
Total disaster
Bernard Hogan-Howe’s recent talk on ‘total policing’ at the LSE didn’t go down too well. ‘Total policing’ is how the Metropolitan Police chief, Bernard Hogan-Howe, describes the criminal justice strategy he is importing into London. And part of this strategy, he says, is regularly communicating with the public. At a talk at the London School