Members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have launched a campaign to prohibit the employment of members of racist organisations within the Home Office and UK Border Agency. PCS’s members believe that it is unacceptable for members of racist organisations to implement asylum and immigration policy, as their political beliefs are incompatible with
Remembering Kelso Cochrane
Next weekend, a series of events will take place in west London to remember Kelso Cochrane, one of the first recorded victims of racially motivated murder in the UK. Fifty years ago on 17 May 1959, Kelso Cochrane, an immigrant from Antigua, was murdered in Notting Hill by a gang of White men as he
‘Our parents did not come to this country to bury their children’
Below we reproduce a statement from the brother and sister of Habib ‘Paps’ Ullah, who died after being arrested by police in High Wycombe on 3 July 2008. ‘It has now been almost nine months since Habib/Paps, our brother died in High Wycombe whilst being arrested during a routine drugs search. No one knows what
David Oluwale – 40 years on
This week marks the fortieth anniversary of the death of David Oluwale at the hands of police officers in Leeds. Forty years ago, the body of David Oluwale was pulled from the River Aire in Leeds on 4 May 1969, after a sustained campaign by two police officers, who were convicted two years later for
Waking nightmares: arrest and detention of children
A new report by the Children’s Commissioner reveals the impact of immigration detention on children and calls for its abolition. To come out of sleep to loud knocking and shouted orders, to open your eyes to uniformed strangers milling about in your home, sometimes pulling you by the arm or pushing you onto the floor,
Is the writing on the wall? (Not if the police have their way)
A report on a recent incident in Birmingham where a ‘Free Gaza’ mural was removed by the council at the request of the police. A pithy phrase, an insult, wry political commentary and, just sometimes, real art appear on public display almost as a matter of course on the walls of any urbanised society. The
Free anti-racist training workshops for community groups
The IRR is running a series of training workshops for community groups. Community-based and other voluntary groups working with refugee, BME and newly-arrived migrants are invited to apply for places at a series of afternoon workshops organised by the Institute of Race Relations starting in May. These are practical workshops on the media, immigration and
Excluded pupils’ group on brink of collapse
A vital community group working with excluded BME children faces closure because of funding shortfalls. The Communities Empowerment Network (CEN) was established in 1999 in response to the growing demand from BME parents and children for help, support and advice concerning school exclusions and reintegration. Since then it has established a small but effective caseworking
The political legacy of Blair Peach
From the death of Blair Peach on 23 April 1979 emerged a series of political struggles, which must never be forgotten. People are, inevitably, comparing the death of Ian Tomlinson at the hands of a Territorial Support Group officer with the death thirty years ago of Blair Peach at the hands of a Special Patrol
Remembering Blair Peach: 30 years on
A friend and colleague remembers Blair Peach, killed by a member of the Special Patrol Group in Southall during a demonstration against the National Front (NF) on 23 April 1979. Blair Peach was born in New Zealand in 1946. After earning his degree at Victoria University and periods of work as a fireman and hospital