Coronavirus: Union To Sue Government Over ‘Failure To Protect Precarious Workers’ – Each Other

‘The UK government is facing a legal challenge over claims it is failing to protect the wages and jobs of millions of workers amid the coronavirus pandemic.’

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Each Other, 23rd March 2020

Source: eachother.org.uk

Home Office releases 300 from detention centres amid Covid-19 pandemic – The Guardian

‘The Home Office has released almost 300 people from detention centres in the last few days because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Guardian has learned.’

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The Guardian, 21st March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Victory in false imprisonment action challenging the lawfulness of Home Office Iraqi removal exercise – Garden Court Chambers

‘QA, an Iraqi national and a vulnerable at risk adult was detained on 27 March 2017 to enable his inclusion in a new Iraqi documentation and removal exercise. Following detention he was held for 4 months, whilst repeated attempts were made to remove him, over which time he consistently expressed suicidal thoughts, engaged in self-harm and attempted suicide on at least two occasions.’

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Garden Court Chambers, 2nd March 2020

Source: www.gardencourtchambers.co.uk

R (Christie Elan-Cane) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – Blackstone Chambers

‘The Court of Appeal has handed down judgment in an appeal brought by a non-gendered person, Christie Elan-Cane, challenging the Government’s policy not to issue non gender-specific “X” passports to non-gendered, non-binary and other trans persons who do not identify as, or exclusively as, male or female.’

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Blackstone Chambers, 10th March 2020

Source: www.blackstonechambers.com

‘Lambs to the slaughter’: 50 lives ruined by the Windrush scandal – The Guardian

‘As the report on the Home Office scandal is finally published, we revisit the victims’ stories.’

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The Guardian, 19th March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Windrush review to call for reform of ‘reckless’ Home Office – The Guardian

‘Wholesale reform of a “reckless” and “defensive” Home Office is expected to be recommended in a hard-hitting review into the causes of the Windrush scandal when it is released by the home secretary on Thursday.’

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The Guardian, 19th March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Windrush inquiry report submitted to home secretary – The Guardian

‘An investigation into the causes of the Windrush scandal has been completed and presented to the UK home secretary, who must now decide when and whether to make the findings public.’

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The Guardian, 18th March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

False imprisonment not synonymous with breach of right to liberty – UK Human Rights Blog

‘R (on the application of Jalloh (formerly Jollah)) v Secretary of State for the Home Department [2020] UKSC 4.In a pithy parting shot to the Home Secretary, Lady Hale has given the unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court on the question of whether a person subject to a home curfew under immigration powers had been falsely imprisoned at common law and whether that concept should now be aligned with the concept of deprivation of liberty in article 5 of the ECHR. The Court decided the case against the defendant, as did every court below (the Blog covered the Court of Appeal’s decision here). The defendant had been required to pay the claimant £4,000.’

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UK Human Rights Blog, 10th March 2020

Source: ukhumanrightsblog.com

Charities call for inquiry into deaths linked to benefits cuts – The Guardian

‘Some of the UK’s best known mental health charities and the Royal College of Psychiatrists have jointly called for an independent inquiry into the deaths of scores of vulnerable people who were reliant on welfare benefits.’

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The Guardian, 11th March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

DWP employees with disabilities paid almost £1m in discrimination cases across four years – The Independent

‘The Department for Work and Pensions has had to pay out almost £1m to employees with disabilities in discrimination cases in the space of four years.’

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The Independent, 9th March 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Child slavery victims ‘falling through cracks’ as Home Office delays support promised four years ago – The Independent

‘The Home Office has been criticised for allowing thousands of child trafficking victims to “fall through the cracks” by failing to implement a policy designed to protect them for four years after it first pledged to do so.’

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The Independent, 5th March 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

Top civil servant begins legal case against Priti Patel and Home Office – The Guardian

‘Sir Philip Rutnam, the senior civil servant who resigned on Saturday claiming he was bullied and forced from office, has begun legal action against the government over his treatment by Priti Patel, his union has told the Guardian.’

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The Guardian, 3rd February 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

New Judgment: R (DN (Rwanda)) (AP) v Secretary of State for the Home Department – UKSC Blog

‘The appellant, DN, is a Rwandan national who was granted refugee status in the UK pursuant to the 1951 Refugee Convention. DN was subsequently convicted of a number of offences, the most serious of which occurred when he pleaded guilty to assisting unlawful entry of a non-EEA national in the UK. The Secretary of State for the Home Department used the powers under the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 to order the deportation of DN. DN’s attempt to assist unlawful immigration to a member state country was a serious offence by way of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 (Specification of Particularly Serious Crimes) Order 2004. The Secretary of State ordered DN’s deportation and detention pending deportation.’

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UKSC Blog, 26th February 2020

Source: ukscblog.com

Unmarried partners still missing bereavement payments – BBC News

‘Means-tested payments of up to £10,000 are made to parents whose husband, wife or civil partner has died.’

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BBC News, 3rd March 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

Anti-slavery tsar calls for councils to take on child trafficking cases – The Guardian

‘The UK’s independent anti-slavery commissioner has called for decision-making on child trafficking cases to be taken away from the Home Office.’

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The Guardian, 2nd March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

DWP criticised for ‘incredible secrecy’ over deaths of benefit claimants – The Guardian

‘The head of an influential cross-party committee of MPs has criticised the “incredible secrecy” surrounding the government’s handling of the deaths of vulnerable benefit claimants following the case of Errol Graham, a severely ill man who died of starvation after his benefits were cut off.’

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The Guardian, 1st March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

Harry Dunn lawyers call for High Court to publish US secret immunity papers – The Guardian

‘Lawyers acting for a teenager who died after a collision with a car allegedly driven by an American woman want the High Court to publish a secret document protecting her from prosecution.’

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The Guardian, 1st March 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘Cover-up’: DWP destroyed reports into people who killed themselves after benefits were stopped – The Independent

Posted February 27th, 2020 in benefits, data protection, government departments, news, suicide by tracey

‘The Department for Work and Pensions has been accused of “a cover-up” after destroying reports into suicides linked to benefits being stopped. Around 50 reviews into deaths following the loss of social security payments before 2015 have been shredded, officials have admitted – blaming data protection laws.’

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The Independent, 26th February 2020

Source: www.independent.co.uk

DWP ordered to pay former trainee £400k over racism and ageism – The Guardian

‘A woman is to receive nearly £400,000 from the Department for Work and Pensions after a judge ruled that her colleagues there had deliberately created a “hostile environment” of racism and ageism that forced her out of work.’

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The Guardian, 25th February 2020

Source: www.theguardian.com

‘How do I convince the Home Office I’m a lesbian?’ – BBC News

‘More than 1,500 people seek asylum in the UK on sexuality grounds every year.

The Home Office’s decision on whether to grant or refuse it depends on whether the interviewer finds the asylum-seeker’s account authentic and believable – but each interviewer may have his or her own assumptions about what an authentic and believable account should look like.’

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BBC News, 26th February 2020

Source: www.bbc.co.uk