Latest news with #TheresaMay
The Guardian
a day ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
The Guardian view on the Orgreave inquiry: scrutiny of South Yorkshire police's actions is long overdue
Sunday's announcement that there will be an inquiry into the shocking violence used against striking miners by police at Orgreave in 1984, and the subsequent fabrication of police evidence, is a vindication of the long campaign fought by trade unionists and activists. That 'there were no deaths' was one of the justifications given by Theresa May's government for the decision not to order an inquiry in 2016. But the brutal treatment of miners picketing the South Yorkshire coking plant and the criminal case brought against them a year later for rioting have cast deep shadows. The inquiry, chaired by Pete Wilcox, the bishop of Sheffield, will aim to bring long-hidden truths about the policing of the strike into the light. Placing these facts in the public domain matters to those affected, some of whom faced the prospect of lengthy prison sentences until police statements and evidence in court were discredited, with paragraphs shown to have been dictated by detectives. But the inquiry has wider significance. Policing by consent, by definition, rests on trust, not brute force. To be worthy of public confidence, forces must be willing to learn, and be held accountable for wrongdoing. The fact that the same police force, South Yorkshire, bore responsibility for the disastrous loss of life at Hillsborough stadium, five years after Orgreave, underscores that need. If the force and its chief constable, Peter Wright, had been properly challenged after the miners' trial collapsed, might the catastrophe in Sheffield, or at least the alleged cover-up afterwards, have been avoided? In a Guardian article in 2012, David Conn highlighted striking similarities between the two episodes, and linked the victim-blaming that followed the Hillsborough disaster with the portrayal of striking miners as a vicious 'enemy within'. This inquiry is a victory for journalists and film-makers as well the campaign itself. The inquiry's format, modelled on the Hillsborough Independent Panel, marks a bold break with the most familiar one for government-ordered inquiries – which are usually headed by a judge. The Orgreave panel will have the power to summon witnesses. But it may opt to focus mainly on documentary evidence, mostly records held by police forces, rather than conducting lengthy oral sessions. Given how much time has already passed – the 40th anniversary of the collapsed trial is this month – the hope must be that work proceeds swiftly once the panel's membership is agreed. Inquiries are not perfect. They can take too long and cost participants a colossal effort. While they make recommendations, it is politicians who decide whether or not to take these up, and police and prosecutors who determine whether criminal charges follow. But when whole institutions are recognised to have gravely, systematically failed people – as happens tragically often – an inquiry provides a vital public forum for the first stage of redress: digging out the truth. The miners of Orgreave have waited too long for this moment. It should not have taken decades for a home secretary to agree to a formal process, particularly given all that is known about Hillsborough, and given that the force settled a civil claim by paying 39 miners £425,000 in 1991. But belated scrutiny of the actions, culture and leadership of South Yorkshire police in the relevant period is infinitely preferable to none at all. The announcement is a win for all of civil society, as well as a determined group of campaigners.
Daily Tribune
4 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Tribune
UK Moves to Strip Citizenship from Terror Suspects
UK Home Secretary Theresa May introduced a last-minute amendment to the Immigration Bill in Parliament that would allow the government to strip naturalised British citizens of their nationality if they are suspected of being involved in terrorism — even if that leaves them stateless. The amendment targets individuals whose actions are deemed to pose a "serious threat to the UK's vital interests." Under current law, the Home Secretary already has the power to revoke citizenship from dual nationals. However, this new proposal extends that power to those born overseas who hold only British citizenship. The House of Commons passed the amendment with a strong majority — 297 votes in favour and just 34 against — despite growing protests over the treatment of foreign criminals and immigrants, especially from Romania and Bulgaria. According to the Home Office, this measure will not apply to individuals born in the UK and will be implemented in line with Britain's international obligations. The policy has also received backing from the Liberal Democrats, who believe it will affect only a small number of extreme cases. Theresa May's proposal follows a significant Supreme Court ruling last October that overturned the revocation of citizenship from Hilal al-Jedda, an Iraqi-born man suspected of terrorism. The decision left al-Jedda stateless, prompting legal challenges. He is currently living in Turkey as the Home Office appeals the ruling. Immigration Minister Mark Harper defended the proposal, stating, 'Citizenship is a privilege, not a right,' and emphasized that the new powers are necessary to protect public safety. However, human rights groups have raised alarms. Reprieve, a UK-based organisation, called the move "a worrying development," warning it gives the Home Secretary sweeping powers to revoke citizenship without due process. The push for stricter laws comes amid rising concern over European extremists returning from Syria. Intelligence reports suggest that more than 700 fighters — including 250 French, 200 Belgian, and 270 German nationals — have joined conflicts in Syria, with at least 60 killed. European governments fear these trained fighters could bring militant tactics back home, prompting tighter security measures. Parliament also debated two additional proposals yesterday. The first, supported by 70 Conservative MPs, seeks to extend work restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian nationals until 2018. The second, backed by about 100 MPs and introduced by MP Dominic Raab, aims to prevent foreign criminals sentenced to at least one year in prison from appealing deportation orders. The new measures reflect mounting pressure on Prime Minister David Cameron from within his own party to take a harder stance on immigration and national security.
The Sun
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Sun
Rochdale grooming gang fiends could FINALLY be deported months after Pakistan refused to take them back
RINGLEADERS of a Rochdale grooming gang could finally be deported to Pakistan after using a loophole to avoid being kicked out of the UK. Fury erupted when Qari Abdul Rauf and Adil Khan ripped up their passports and Pakistan refused to take them back. 4 4 The men were part of a nine-strong gang of Asian men convicted of sex offences against vulnerable girls in 2012. Up to 47 girls as young as 12 were plied with alcohol and drugs and gang-raped across Rochdale during a two-year reign of terror. Then-Home Secretary Theresa May ordered the pair to be sent back to Pakistan in 2014 as it would as it would be "conducive to the public good". But ten years later, Rauf and Khan still remain in Rochdale where - horrifically - their victims are forced to live alongside them. Rauf and Khan held dual British-Pakistani citizenship but were stripped of their British nationality. A judge ordered both men to be deported to Pakistan nearly a decade ago. However the men, two of Britain's worst grooming offenders, renounced their Pakistani citizenship days before an appeal against the order. This meant they would be left "stateless" if they were kicked out of the UK, exploiting a loophole that allowed them to remain here. But according to The Telegraph, a lifting of a ban on direct flights between Pakistan and UK could mean 'progress' in negotiations for deportation. Sources for the Interior Ministry have previously said "progress" could be made if the UK were to take part in talks. They also suggested returning direct flights to the UK by its national airline PIA, which were suspended for safety reasons, could help. But UK officials previously said this suggestion had not been raised in discussions. Rauf and Khan were ringleaders of a prolific grooming gang in Rochdale, which has been plagued by sexual exploitation. Khan got a 13-year-old girl pregnant and trafficked another girl, 15, to others - using violence when she complained. He was sentenced to eight years in 2012 and released on licence four years later. Dad-of-five Rauf trafficked a 15-year-old girl and raped her in a secluded area before taking her to a flat in Rochdale where others had sex with her. He was caged for six years and released in November 2014 after serving two years and six months of his sentence. 4
Tahawul Tech
16-07-2025
- Business
- Tahawul Tech
UK government Archives
The country's Prime Minister Theresa May recently announced that government will be doubling visas available for global talent in areas like digital technology and science to 2,000 to help retain an edge after Brexit.
Times
12-07-2025
- Politics
- Times
MBE for man who led Muslim police boycott over grooming scandal
A man who led a Muslim community boycott of South Yorkshire police after the Rotherham grooming scandal has been awarded an MBE for 'services to integration' and 'cohesion'. Muhbeen Hussain called on Muslims to sever ties with the force and 'take all the necessary action to protect ourselves' in October 2015, the year after the force's failure to investigate thousands of allegations of abuse and rape had been exposed. His campaign group warned: 'Any Muslim groups or institutions in Rotherham that do not adhere to this policy of disengagement will also be boycotted by the Muslim community.' Asked what motivated him, he told the BBC it was 'first and foremost' the police's 'pernicious lie' that it had failed to act on grooming allegations 'because of fears of being called racist'. He argued that this amounted to an attempt to 'scapegoat' Muslims. Hussain also said police had failed to protect the community from the far right. The boycott came shortly after the racially aggravated murder of a local Muslim man. Less than a year earlier, the government had said 'institutionalised political correctness' had contributed to the scandal. Theresa May, then the home secretary, made the statement in response to an inquiry by Alexis Jay, which found that within social services, 'there was a widespread perception that messages conveyed by some senior people in the council and also the police, were to 'downplay' the ethnic dimensions of [child sexual exploitation]'. • How the child sex grooming gangs scandal unfolded over 20 years Hussain has repeatedly defended the boycott in the years since. In 2017, the leader of Rotherham council refused to meet him on the grounds of his 'divisive recklessness'. He responded by writing a public letter questioning the leader's fitness for office and claiming his position brought the local authority into disrepute. Today, he runs the all-party parliamentary group on British Muslims and holds a House of Commons pass sponsored by Naz Shah, the Bradford West MP. His MBE for 'political services to integration cohesion and to British society' was announced in the King's birthday honours list last month. Sir John Jenkins, a senior fellow at the Policy Exchange think tank who served as UK ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Syria, called for the honour to be reviewed, saying the boycott was inconsistent with the principle of community cohesion. He said: 'Mr Hussain's pending award of the MBE brings the system into discredit. 'The government should review the system of due diligence applied to those being awarded honours to understand how Mr Hussain's prior activity in boycotting the police was overlooked and to implement steps to avoid such awards in future.' It is not known who nominated Hussain for the honour. Applications can be submitted by any member of the public before being vetted by a committee supported by civil servants in the Cabinet Office. • Gangs raped 'lost' girls because no one cared Hussain has previously said he has long acknowledged the scale of the grooming scandal perpetrated by British Pakistani males, noting that British Muslim Youth, the group he co-founded, organised one of the first demonstrations against 'these criminals that were claiming to be from our community'. He has said, by dint of their criminality, those connected to Rotherham were not Muslims but that he had marched to condemn them anyway. Hussain announced his boycott more than a year after Jay's report on sexual exploitation in Rotherham found that at least 1,400 girls, some as young as 11, were abused between 1997 and 2013 in the town. Jay cited internal police reviews in 2003 and 2006 that found it was 'believed by a number of workers that one of the difficulties that prevent [child sexual abuse] being dealt with effectively is the ethnicity of the main perpetrators'. She referenced evidence which found: 'Young people in Rotherham believed at that time that the police dared not act against Asian youths for fear of allegations of racism.' In October2015, British Muslim Youth, the group Hussain led, published its statement saying the Muslim community had been 'under perpetual attack and demonisation' since the Jay report. It read: 'During this whole period the Muslim community have been made prisoners in their own homes. South Yorkshire police have piggybacked on this hostile environment towards the Muslim community by deflecting the attention of their own failures by scapegoating us. They have peddled a pernicious lie that: historically they failed to act of allegations of [child sexual exploitation], because they were afraid of being branded 'racist'.' On this basis, it said, Muslims had agreed to 'cut all lines of engagement and communication with South Yorkshire police'. It said: 'If South Yorkshire police cannot adequately protect and serve the Muslim residents of Rotherham then moving forward we will take all the necessary action to protect ourselves within the confines of the law, while maintaining a process of disengagement and non-communication with South Yorkshire police.' • How the child sex grooming gangs scandal unfolded over 20 years The boycott was rescinded in less than a week in response to a public outcry and after negotiations with Sarah Champion, the MP for Rotherham. She defused the dispute by agreeing to meet Hussain in parliament and vowing to write to May. Hussain defended his actions, telling the Rotherham Advertiser: 'It wasn't a publicity stunt, but we want people to listen. Like any trade union would call a strike, we had to have this boycott.' Hussain repeatedly claimed the police had argued it had not acted on allegations because of a fear of being 'branded racist'. This, he said, helped them to shift blame away from themselves and towards Muslims, in the process of avoiding accountability for their own incompetence, corruption and failure to believe working-class victims. Hussain also said he believed the force had failed to protect Muslims from far-right demonstrations and violence. On Saturday night he said in a statement: 'My record in countering extremism and terrorism from the age of 14, which has included speaking out unequivocally against grooming gangs including those of Pakistani origin, leading the first demonstration against such criminals and working to break barriers between intrafaith and interfaith communities, speaks for itself. 'I have a distinguished track record in building bridges for communities and I was delighted and honoured to be offered an MBE in the forthcoming King's birthday honours in recognition of this work. I look forward to continuing to work on community cohesion and interfaith understanding going forward.'
