We are helping thousands of vulnerable people who were housed during the pandemic to stay in accommodation this year, with more than £90M of funding announced today. gov.uk/government/new… (1/5)
The incredible national effort to support rough sleepers during the pandemic has protected many lives and is widely regarded as one of the most successful programmes of its kind in the world. I’m hugely grateful to all those involved. (2/5)
This funding will ensure that vulnerable people and rough sleepers continue to have safe accommodation and the care and support they need, to ensure as few as possible return to the streets. (3/5)
The Next Steps Accommodation Programme is part of the government’s landmark commitment to end rough sleeping for good.
In Greater Manchester, over £3M has today been allocated to councils to support the vulnerable. (4/5)
And we are providing 6,000 new supported homes - the most ambitious project of its kind with the single biggest injection of specialist accommodation since the Rough Sleeping Initiative began. (5/5) gov.uk/government/new…
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The judge in this case also previously challenged the Rwanda deportation scheme and helped end a fast-track deportation scheme.
🧵A thread on yet another judge with remarkable similarity between their background and decisions👇
We need radical overhaul.
In the case of the prolific Albanian criminal she acknowledged the man’s offending was serious – yet his appeal against deportation was still upheld because it wasn’t “extreme” enough.
And this wasn’t the first time Judge Hirst sided with a foreign criminal.
In another case she upheld a decision allowing a Guinean national to remain here despite convictions for possessing an offensive weapon and for carrying a blade.
The tribunal said he was “socially and culturally integrated” despite his repeated offending.
She recently allowed a knife-carrying Class A drug dealer to stay in Britain. Her decision was overturned because of an error of law.
She previously sat on the board of a pro asylum charity, Asylum Aid.
🧵A thread👇
Whilst deciding deportation appeals as a part-time judge, Bail for Immigration Detainees (BID) publicly thanked her for volunteering to represent immigration detainees in court.
She became a part time judge in December 2006. But records show she was still a director of Asylum Aid until February 2007.
A damning review has exposed how the criminal justice system is failing rape victims.
From the police through to prosecutors, administrative failings are leading to delays and fewer convictions.
🧵The findings will shock you. Ministers must act.👇
The report reveals that 3/4 of rape cases sent by the police for early advice breach CPS rules.
They arrived missing basic evidence such as the victim’s video interview or the suspect’s account.
That forces costly re-work and further delay.
Charging files are no better.
7 in 10 do not meet standards – statements and exhibits are simply absent.
The result? Trials that limp into court half-blind, delays that drain victims, and defendants who walk free because of mismanagement.
This is an absurd decision that will infuriate the public.
And it’s not a one off.
🧵The immigration judge in this case, Rebecca Owens, is also behind other decisions that defy common sense👇
(1/6)
Last August, she ruled that a Somali man, convicted of robbery, burglary, and drug-dealing, could stay in the UK - because deporting him might make his drug addiction worse.
And in April, she overturned the deportation of an Albanian asylum seeker - despite the fact that he failed multiple times before, and had made claims about being trafficked that one judge described as 'purely fictitious'.