Parliament

“We are all under attack”: solidarity, the immigration bill and a Hostile Environment

Published by NCADC on November 11, 2013 | Leave a response

At a meeting organised by Legal Action for Women in London on Saturday, representatives from groups all across the UK came together to share how things are in their locality, and to plan what we can all to do fight the racist immigration bill, the devastating legal aid cuts, and against detention and deportation. Unsurprisingly, a pretty bleak picture was painted. Scarce legal representation, increased destitution, sexual and racist abuse in detention, dwindling resources. And yet, and yet. The energy in the room was fortifying: determined groups and individuals vowing that we wouldn’t give up, and that to succeed we Read the full article…

Stop the Immigration Bill: a “regime of harassment for migrants”

Published by NCADC on November 5, 2013 | 2 Responses

Have your say on the Immigration Bill >> On 22 October, the new Immigration Bill had its second reading in the House of Commons. At this stage of a new bill, MPs are given the opportunity to debate the general principles and, afterwards to oppose it if they wish. Cowardly response Of great concern was the Labour Party’s stance on the Bill: most Labour MPs abstained from voting on the Bill, which passed by a massive 303 votes to 18. Just six Labour MPs voted against the bill. They were Diane Abbot, Kelvin Hopkins, David Lammy, John McDonnell, Fiona Mactaggart Read the full article…

Announced with hateful rhetoric, what does the Immigration Bill actually mean?

Published by NCADC on October 15, 2013 | 1 Response

Described variously as “ugly, divisive politics” (Sarah Teather MP), a “valuable tool for racist landlords” (Maurice Mcleod), “meandering popularism” (John Harris) and “immigration policy that has lost even any semblance of correlation with reality” (Dave Stamp of ASIRT), there’s a lot to digest (or spit out, disgusted) in the new Immigration Bill. In this latest post, NCADC’s legal volunteer Jacqueline analyses the major policy changes, and the responses they have provoked. A new Immigration Bill has been published by the Home Office, aimed at making it tougher for migrants to settle in the UK. The changes will include reducing appeal Read the full article…

Legal aid consultation: next steps

Published by NCADC on September 6, 2013 | 1 Response

ILPA summary of the government’s response to the legal aid consultation (asylum and immigration law), and what you can do to campaign for access to justice to all. For the Government response to the consultation see here. ILPA’s response to the consultation can be read here. What can I do? There is general consensus that action at local, constituency level, is needed to raise interest in the effect of the civil proposals to a level where the debate can be heard. This will happen where people: Write to or visit local MPs (or if you deliver legal aid, ask them Read the full article…

Save legal aid: EDM and petition

Published by NCADC on July 3, 2013 | Leave a response

Access to justice in the UK is under threat. Following savage legal aid cuts brought in this April, the government has proposed even more restrictions to legal aid that would have devastating and discriminatory consequences, particularly in the area of judicial reviews. Read more about it on our Where is Justice? blog post. Chris Grayling (the justice minister) appears to be bowing to pressure on the right to choose your solicitor, but there is still much to be done, as former detainee William says: Grayling announced that people would still be able to choose their own solicitor which was a Read the full article…

NHS consultation on charging migrants: make sure you have your say

Published by NCADC on July 3, 2013 | Leave a response

A very important government consultation has been launched today. The proposed changes would have very negative implications for migrants in the UK. The proposed changes will not save the money that the government claim, and is part of dangerous anti-immigrant rhetoric stoked by the government that we must fight back against. The consultation, along with supporting documents, can be found here. Responses must be submitted by 28 August 2013. This introduction to the consultation is as follows: The consultation is about migrants’ access and financial contribution to the NHS. It is widely recognised that the NHS has a longstanding weakness Read the full article…

Where is justice?

Published by NCADC on May 21, 2013 | 4 Responses

Serious assault on access to justice We have been warning for some time of an impending disaster. Over the past couple of years, whenever we have spoken with people (and there are so many) who have struggled to access justice within the asylum and immigration system, who are at risk in their home country yet have been denied protection, whose home is the UK but are threatened with forced removal; we have had in the back of our minds that things are only getting worse. It has always been difficult to get free, good quality legal advice. Little by little, Read the full article…

The judges’ revolt and the Home Office’s assault on love

Published by NCADC on February 18, 2013 | 2 Responses

Theresa May has a bad habit of ruining Sundays. Sundays are a good day for her populist, racist pandering to the right-wing press to receive a lot of air-time. Tempting as it is to ignore her attention-seeking power-hungry attempts to fashion her own legacy, her latest intervention in the Article 8-foreign ex-offenders-deportation affair came at the end of a week in which the Home Office surpassed even their own incredible record for making your blood boil. The Mail on Sunday dutifully parroted, ‘“Innocent people will be subjected to rape and violent attacks by foreign thugs because judges have sabotaged a Read the full article…

News of the Year 2012

Published by NCADC on December 28, 2012 | Leave a response

News stories from the world of asylum, immigration, human rights and NCADC. Look out for our campaign review of the year in January! —- JANUARY The year commenced with an important legal victory for human rights, as explained by Rosalind English on theUK Human Rights Blog: People who make unsuccessful claims to enter or remain in the United Kingdom cannot be removed without being given sufficient time for a lawyer to prepare a proper challenge to their claim. The government has failed in its appeal against the Administrative Court’s finding that government policy unlawfully provided for expedited removal procedures in Read the full article…

UKBA inquiry: human rights through the looking glass

Published by NCADC on November 12, 2012 | 2 Responses

Serious concerns lost in headlines about backlog statistics “entering the world of the UKBA is like falling through the looking glass” Keith Vaz, Chair of Committee Last week (8 Nov), the UK parliament’s Home Affairs Committee published a report of its latest Inquiry into the work of the UK Border Agency. The Committee has now published their report online with the headline “Border Agency’s backlog spiralling out of control”, and that was the angle taken up by the media - that and the terrible spectre of an amnesty for “illegal immigrants”. Less widely reported were other serious issues of concern Read the full article…