Lizzie Dearden Profile picture
Sep 29, 2020 4 tweets 2 min read Read on X
As MPs prepare to vote on extending the Coronavirus Act, official figures show the law has been wrongly used to prosecute 141 people

It has been used unlawfully in every single case so far, and more are going through the courts

independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n…
Several human rights groups are campaigning for schedule 21 of the act, which creates criminal offences, to be repealed

It gives police the power to direct “potentially infectious persons” to a place suitable for screening and assessment, and makes it an offence to refuse
The Coronavirus Act was drawn up in March, when the threat was mainly perceived to come from abroad, and places where infectious people can be detained were never set up

The Health Protection Regulations were later introduced under a separate law to enforce lockdown restrictions
Many wrongful prosecutions appear to stem from the early similarity between the Health Protection Regulations (which then banned going outside without reasonable excuse) and Coronavirus Act

The regulations have been updated but the Act has not

independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/…

• • •

Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to force a refresh
 

Keep Current with Lizzie Dearden

Lizzie Dearden Profile picture

Stay in touch and get notified when new unrolls are available from this author!

Read all threads

This Thread may be Removed Anytime!

PDF

Twitter may remove this content at anytime! Save it as PDF for later use!

Try unrolling a thread yourself!

how to unroll video
  1. Follow @ThreadReaderApp to mention us!

  2. From a Twitter thread mention us with a keyword "unroll"
@threadreaderapp unroll

Practice here first or read more on our help page!

More from @lizziedearden

Apr 22
A late addition:

On appeals against being sent to Rwanda, the PM claimed: "The judiciary have made available 25 courtrooms and identified 150 judges who could provide over 5,000 sitting days"

A judicial spokesman said: "The deployment of judges is a matter for the judiciary..."
"...in line with new provisions in the Illegal Migration Act, the judiciary have identified a number of First Tier Tribunal judges who may be asked to sit in the Upper Tribunal to deal with any increase in appeals"

But decisions will be made by the Senior President of Tribunals
And take into "account the interests of justice and the need for all matters before the Tribunals to be handled quickly and efficiently"

Any decision on temporary deployment is for the judiciary, not the government, and there are already massive backlogs
inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
Read 4 tweets
Apr 22
Follow this thread for a fact-checked watch-along of prime minister Rishi Sunak's press conference on the Rwanda scheme Image
Wow he's going fast, I'll do my best

1. "We're going to deliver this indispensable deterrent so that we finally break the business model of the criminal gangs"

The Rwanda scheme required a rare ministerial direction because there is no evidence it will deter Channel crossings
2. "We've prepared for this moment to detain people while we prepare to remove them. We've increased detention spaces to 2,200 to quickly process claims"

By the end of December, 1,782 immigration detention centres were full, because they are needed for many other purposes Image
Read 11 tweets
Mar 9
Exclusive: The Home Office has been quietly rolling out a multi-million IT system that was supposed to "automate" asylum, citizenship and visa cases

It's now causing chaos, with errors, bugs and delays leaving staff "sobbing" while applicants suffer
inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
At least £71m has so far been spent on the Atlas digital caseworking system and spending is rising, with the Home Office admitting “significant resource is being put in place to resolve” issues

Some of the glitches have been classified as a P1 “critical” technical incidents
It has been causing delays to applications including British citizenship, skilled worker visas, asylum claims, EU settlement scheme and Homes for Ukraine, while slowing down immigration enforcement operations

Some cases get stuck, while civil servants get locked out of others
Read 5 tweets
Jan 16
New: Official figures passed to the UK by the Rwandan government raise fresh issues about its capacity to process asylum seekers from the UK

It has decided just over 400 claims in 5 years, and refused three quarters of them
inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
Between 2019 and the end of November a total of 421 asylum claims were decided, and only 113 (27%) were granted

The largest number of cases considered by Rwanda in a single year was 164, in 2023. During the same period, the UK made decisions on more than 112,000 asylum cases
Any limits on Rwanda's capacity will affect the number of migrants the UK can send

The treaty says transfers must be agreed in advance, "taking into account Rwanda’s capacity to receive them & all administrative and other needs" necessary to comply with assurances on treatment
Read 4 tweets
Jan 15
🚨Breaking: The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has conducted a legal assessment of the UK government's new Rwanda treaty and bill - and concludes the scheme still violates international law🚨
The government has claimed it can "address the Supreme Court's concerns" - the ruling that the Rwanda scheme was unlawful- with treaty enhancing safeguards on treatment of asylum seekers plus training and capacity building in Rwanda

The UNHCR says it hasn't fixed systemic issues Image
UNHCR also criticises plan to let asylum seekers from the UK stay in Rwanda if they're given refugee status or not - one of the key measures aimed to tackle the risk that asylum seekers may be sent directly or indirectly to countries where they're at risk (refoulement) Image
Read 6 tweets
Jan 6
Revealed: The UK has lost track of thousands of migrants by removing their asylum claims from the system

But the Home Office's reliance on posted letters is causing chaos, and it is already having to reverse decisions and put cases back into the backlog
inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
The asylum withdrawal process was designed for people who no longer wanted to claim asylum, had left UK or were non-compliant

But the tactic has rocketed amid changes to make it faster and easier since Rishi Sunak’s backlog pledge, and is now being used against genuine refugees
Official stats aren't out but Home Office sources say most recent withdrawals were "implicit", meaning they were done without the consent of asylum seekers because of procedural rules

Reasons include not updating address, not attending interviews, not returning questionnaires
Read 9 tweets

Did Thread Reader help you today?

Support us! We are indie developers!


This site is made by just two indie developers on a laptop doing marketing, support and development! Read more about the story.

Become a Premium Member ($3/month or $30/year) and get exclusive features!

Become Premium

Don't want to be a Premium member but still want to support us?

Make a small donation by buying us coffee ($5) or help with server cost ($10)

Donate via Paypal

Or Donate anonymously using crypto!

Ethereum

0xfe58350B80634f60Fa6Dc149a72b4DFbc17D341E copy

Bitcoin

3ATGMxNzCUFzxpMCHL5sWSt4DVtS8UqXpi copy

Thank you for your support!

Follow Us!

:(