UK News and Discussions

[Time_Traveller]

Refugees to be electronically tagged and prosecuted if they don't comply (from the UK)
Source: The Independent

Refugees who cross the Channel in small boats to reach the UK are set to be electronically tagged - and prosecuted if they fail to comply - under Home Office plans.

Campaigners and experts have accused ministers of adopting a "draconian and punitive" approach that will see people who have fled conflict and danger treated as "criminals", and of pushing through the plan despite having "no concrete evidence" that it will improve levels of compliance.

A 12-month pilot will see some of those who travel to Britain via what the government terms "unnecessary and dangerous routes" fitted with tags, potentially including those recognised as victims of torture and trafficking, according to new Home Office guidance.

If tagging conditions are breached, asylum seekers may be considered for detention and removal, subject to administrative arrest, or prosecuted, the document states.

Earlier this week, the government was criticised over its controversial Rwanda deportation plan, with a flight scheduled to deport asylum seekers to central Africa being grounded at the last minute after European judges intervened on human rights grounds.

It is understood that some of the 130 asylum seekers who were detained for removal on the flight will be among the first to be fitted with electronic tags, if and when they are released from detention.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 03622.html

Good. The UK needs to control its borders and people don't have a right to break its laws.

How is this good Weather, there are no legal or illegal refugees and how come you just copied a similar article to me around 2 hours after i just posted it?

[Time_Traveller]

[weatheriscool]

Refugees to be electronically tagged and prosecuted if they don't comply (from the UK)
Source: The Independent

Refugees who cross the Channel in small boats to reach the UK are set to be electronically tagged - and prosecuted if they fail to comply - under Home Office plans.

Campaigners and experts have accused ministers of adopting a "draconian and punitive" approach that will see people who have fled conflict and danger treated as "criminals", and of pushing through the plan despite having "no concrete evidence" that it will improve levels of compliance.

A 12-month pilot will see some of those who travel to Britain via what the government terms "unnecessary and dangerous routes" fitted with tags, potentially including those recognised as victims of torture and trafficking, according to new Home Office guidance.

If tagging conditions are breached, asylum seekers may be considered for detention and removal, subject to administrative arrest, or prosecuted, the document states.

Earlier this week, the government was criticised over its controversial Rwanda deportation plan, with a flight scheduled to deport asylum seekers to central Africa being grounded at the last minute after European judges intervened on human rights grounds.

It is understood that some of the 130 asylum seekers who were detained for removal on the flight will be among the first to be fitted with electronic tags, if and when they are released from detention.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 03622.html

Good. The UK needs to control its borders and people don't have a right to break its laws.

How is this good Weather, there are no legal or illegal refugees and how come you just copied a similar article to me around 2 hours after i just posted it?

Refugees are brought in legally under government oversight. It isn't legal for people just to land on the shore of another nation. Also I must of not been looking when I posted the same article. Sorry.

[Time_Traveller]

Helen Hurford gets heckled and Booed at in Tiverton and Honiton Town Hall before the by-election.

[Time_Traveller]

Refugees to be electronically tagged and prosecuted if they don't comply (from the UK)
Source: The Independent


Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/h ... 03622.html

Good. The UK needs to control its borders and people don't have a right to break its laws.

How is this good Weather, there are no legal or illegal refugees and how come you just copied a similar article to me around 2 hours after i just posted it?

Refugees are brought in legally under government oversight. It isn't legal for people just to land on the shore of another nation. Also I must of not been looking when I posted the same article. Sorry.

There are no legal routes to the UK because the UK government will not make any as seen here: - https://www.jewishvoiceforlabour.org.uk ... um-seeker/

[Time_Traveller]

Rail union boss predicts strikes will spread to more sectors

Sunday 19 June 2022

Britain is facing a summer of discontent with more workers set to be balloted on strike action, a union chief has warned, as a series of walkouts is set to cripple the rail network.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch has predicted industrial action could spread to other services, arguing that "people can't take it anymore".

Unions representing teachers and NHS workers have also threatened industrial action over pay.

Speaking ahead of three days of staggered rail strikes, which is set to cause widespread disruption for millions of train passengers, he insisted he wanted to reach a settlement, but his members had no choice but to "fight".

But Mr Lynch has been accused by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps of "gunning" for strikes, which he argued would be "disastrous" for the industry.

https://news.sky.com/story/union-boss-p ... e-12636590

[Time_Traveller]

Biggest rail strike in three decades to go ahead as last-ditch talks fail

Monday 20 June 2022

The biggest rail strike in three decades is expected go ahead after last-ditch talks failed, the RMT union said.

A walkout by 40,000 workers on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday will cause "total misery", according to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps.

Mr Shapps said the strike was "totally wrong" and would inconvenience millions - including those like his own daughter who are taking exams.

The action is the result of a dispute over pay, jobs and conditions. The RMT is asking for a pay rise of 7% - lower than inflation but higher than that being offered by employers.

RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said latest offers from publicly-owned Network Rail and private train operating companies had been rejected. He suggested the employers' hands had been tied by ministers.

Mr Lynch blamed Mr Shapps for cutting billions of pounds in funding for public transport. The union also claims the government is trying to force through thousands of job cuts.

https://news.sky.com/story/biggest-rail ... l-12637442

[Time_Traveller]

Labour's David Lammy to be investigated by Commons watchdog

Monday 20 June 2022

Shadow foreign secretary David Lammy is to be investigated by the parliamentary standards commissioner for allegedly breaching rules over reporting earnings and gifts.

The probe was confirmed in an update by Commissioner Kathryn Stone on the UK Parliament website.

Under the MPs' code of conduct, members must register any extra wages or hospitality within 28 days of receiving them.

But it is understood the shadow foreign secretary missed the deadline.

A spokesperson for Mr Lammy apologised for "administrative errors" in his office, which they said led to late declarations in December 2021.

They said the MP for Tottenham had "assured the registrar that he has put revised systems in place so that declarations are made in a timely manner", adding: "We are happy to provide the parliamentary standards commissioner with any further information."

https://news.sky.com/story/labours-davi ... g-12637467

[Time_Traveller]

Tiverton and Honiton by-election: Lib Dems and Tories 'neck-and-neck'

41 mins ago - 22 June 2022

The latest polling for the Liberal Democrats suggests they are neck and neck with the Tories in Tiverton and Honiton ahead of Thursday’s by-election. A report says the survey found both parties on 45 per cent on the vote, suggesting the Liberal Democrats closed an earlier two point gap.

The candidates at the Tiverton and Honiton byelection hustings at Tiverton Community Arts Theatre. From left, Gill Westcott, Helen Hurford, chair George Parker, Liz Pole and Richard Foord.

The pollsters are said to have arrived at the figure after speaking to 6,000 voters in the constituency at the weekend, according to inews.co.uk . Eight candidates are standing for election to represent the Devon seat, which stretches from Bampton on the edge of Exmoor in the north, through the towns of Cullompton and Honiton, to Axminster near the Dorset border and the coast at Seaton.

The election follows the resignation of Conservative Neil Parish for watching pornography on his phone in the House of Commons chamber. He represented the constituency since 2010 and had a majority of more than 24,000 over Labour at the general election in 2019.

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/ti ... ar-AAYJMYm

[Time_Traveller]

The Tories are at risk of losing more than both by-elections

18 minutes ago - 22 June 2022

Boris Johnson has survived the verdict of his own MPs – for the time being at least. But on Thursday he faces the judgement of the electorate in two key parliamentary by-elections at opposite ends of England, in Wakefield and Tiverton and Honiton.

The verdict from the ballot boxes may not be so kind for the prime minister. Certainly, his party faces a severe challenge in retaining the Wakefield seat. One of the so-called “Red Wall” seats that the Conservatives gained in 2019 – after not having been victorious locally since 1931 – the party is defending a relatively small seven and a half point majority.

A swing of a little less than 4 per cent from Conservative to Labour would be sufficient for Sir Keir Starmer to reclaim the seat and register his party’s first by-election gain under his leadership.

https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/by ... 06810.html

[Time_Traveller]

UK inflation rises at fastest rate for 40 years as food costs jump

1 hour ago - 22 June 2022

Prices are continuing to rise at their fastest rate for 40 years with food costs, particularly for bread, cereal and meat, climbing.

UK inflation, the rate at which prices rise, edged up to 9.1% in the 12 months to May, from 9% in April, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Fuel and energy prices are the biggest drivers of inflation, but the ONS said food costs had pushed it up further.

Workers and unions are pushing for pay rises to cope with higher prices.

But the government has warned against employers handing out big increases in salaries over fears of a 1970s style "inflationary spiral" where firms hike wages and then past the cost onto customers through higher prices.

Currently, inflation is at the highest level since March 1982, when it also stood at 9.1% and the Bank of England has warned it will reach 11% this year.

Inflation is the pace at which prices are rising. For example, if a bottle of milk costs £1 and that rises by 5p compared with a year earlier, then milk inflation is 5%.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61891649

[Time_Traveller]

Ukraine refugees: UK set to admit lone teenagers after rule change

2 hours ago - 22 June 2022

Teenagers who fled the war in Ukraine will be allowed to come to the UK alone under new rules, the BBC understands.

About 1,000 unaccompanied minors had previously been left in limbo because the Homes for Ukraine scheme required young people to travel with a guardian.

One 17-year-old, Valya, spent months alone in a single room in central Ukraine with air raids overhead.

Valya, who is on her way to the UK, said her parents would be happy she is now safe.

She left her family home in Khershon in southern Ukraine, where there has been heavy fighting, in the hope she could travel to the UK and live with a sponsor family in the Midlands.

Like hundreds of other Ukrainian teenagers, she had applied under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which for weeks made no mention of restrictions on under-18s travelling alone.

But she was told her visa had been blocked when the Home Office changed its guidance to say that under-18s must be travelling with a parent or guardian, or reuniting with them in the UK.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61887136

[Time_Traveller]

[Time_Traveller]

How Russia has sparked row between UK and US over fish

Wednesday 22 June 2022

A diplomatic row over fish has broken out between the UK and US in response to provocations from Russia.

The feud could lead to an import ban on Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass, which US officials claim is being caught illegally near Antarctica.

It comes after Russia rejected toothfish catch limits proposed to conserve Antarctic marine life.

The UK responded by issuing licences to four British-flagged vessels to fish for the toothfish.

US officials say that move violates commission rules, and it will not allow the fish to be imported.

The UK quietly issued the licences off the coast of South Georgia, a remote, uninhabited UK-controlled island, some 870 miles east of the Falkland Islands.

It means for the first time since governments banded together 40 years ago to protect marine life near the South Pole, deep-sea fishing for Chilean sea bass is going forward this season without any catch limit.

https://news.sky.com/story/how-russia-h ... h-12638661

[Vakanai]

How Russia has sparked row between UK and US over fish

Wednesday 22 June 2022

A diplomatic row over fish has broken out between the UK and US in response to provocations from Russia.

The feud could lead to an import ban on Patagonian toothfish, also known as Chilean sea bass, which US officials claim is being caught illegally near Antarctica.

It comes after Russia rejected toothfish catch limits proposed to conserve Antarctic marine life.

The UK responded by issuing licences to four British-flagged vessels to fish for the toothfish.

US officials say that move violates commission rules, and it will not allow the fish to be imported.

The UK quietly issued the licences off the coast of South Georgia, a remote, uninhabited UK-controlled island, some 870 miles east of the Falkland Islands.

It means for the first time since governments banded together 40 years ago to protect marine life near the South Pole, deep-sea fishing for Chilean sea bass is going forward this season without any catch limit.

https://news.sky.com/story/how-russia-h ... h-12638661

Welp, Antarctic sea life takes another step towards collapse.

[Time_Traveller]

British Airways workers at Heathrow vote to strike during school summer holidays

Thursday 23 June 2022

British Airways (BA) workers at Heathrow have voted to strike during the school summer holidays, in a move set to cause more travel chaos as the industry struggles to recover from the COVID pandemic.

Members of the GMB and Unite unions overwhelmingly supported the prospect of industrial action over pay with 95% of those voting, at both unions, backing strikes on turnouts of 81% and 63% respectively.

It means that more than 700 BA check-in staff and ground-handling agents could walk out at the height of the summer season.

No strike dates have been announced, as the unions suggested that they wanted to give the airline some time to change its mind on the key issue.

The unions are seeking to reverse a 10% pay cut on workers that was imposed during the pandemic when global lockdowns grounded flights.

Around 13,000 jobs were also cut by BA.

https://news.sky.com/story/british-airw ... s-12639088

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

Lib Dem byelection win was spectacular – but Labour’s may hurt Tories most

Fri 24 Jun 2022

The Liberal Democrats’ victory in the Tiverton and Honiton byelection was spectacular. The Conservatives’ majority in the seat was the largest, in terms of raw numbers if not percentages, ever to be overturned in a byelection. The swing of 30% was less than the 34% achieved in North Shropshire in December, but it was enough for a comfortable majority of 6,144 in this former Tory stronghold. However, Labour’s win in Wakefield may be the one that hurts Boris Johnson and the Conservatives more in the long term.

Wakefield is important for symbolic reasons. It is “red wall” not just in the loose sense of a long-term northern Labour seat that the Tories won in 2019, but according to the original, precise definition from the analyst James Kanagasooriam – a constituency where Labour’s support had been consistently higher than one would expect given its social composition.

While it had been Labour ever since a byelection back in 1932, Wakefield was never a monolithically safe Labour seat. The Conservatives came fairly close under Thatcher, taking more than 40% of the vote in 1987, reflecting the middle-class element that went with being West Yorkshire’s capital. The risk for Labour after the 2019 election was that the bonds between this sort of community and the party had been permanently broken. The Wakefield byelection, on top of some of the local election results in May, suggests that the wall is repairable.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... ories-most

[Time_Traveller]

[Time_Traveller]

Ukrainians who come to UK illegally could be sent to Rwanda, Johnson says

Thu 23 Jun 2022

Ukrainian refugees face being sent to Rwanda if they travel to the UK without authorisation, Boris Johnson has said in an escalation of government plans to deport those who travel across the Channel seeking sanctuary.

During a visit to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, the prime minister also urged Nato and G7 countries not to settle for a “bad peace” in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, saying it would lead to escalation by Vladimir Putin’s war machine.

Previously, Johnson had said the prospect of Ukrainian refugees being sent to Rwanda under the controversial government scheme unveiled in April was “simply not going to happen”.

But asked before the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) whether Ukrainians arriving by boat could face deportation to east Africa, he said: “The only circumstances in which people will be sent to Rwanda would be if they come to the UK illegally, and thereby undermine the safe and legal routes that we have. I think we are giving 130,000 visas to Ukrainians and they have at least two very good routes for coming to this country.

“But if you come here illegally, you’re undermining all those who come here legally. And it’s crazy. So I’m afraid the answer is I suppose, yes, in theory that could happen. But I think it’s very unlikely.”

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... hnson-says