The Nationality and Borders Bill is back in Parliament next week.
It's the biggest threat to refugee rights we’ve seen in decades and breaches our obligations under international law.
Here’s what you need to know 👇🏽 1/9
The Bill was recently updated so that the government can strip someone of British citizenship without notice.
This law will of course be used against people of colour, no matter if they were born in this country. 2/9
The Bill criminalises people coming here without permission.
But it doesn't create safe and legal routes to asylum.
Therefore people can’t travel legally and are forced to do so illegally. 3/9
If you travelled via another country (bear in mind we’re an island!), the government will refuse your asylum claim and try to get another country to process it.
The global asylum system would crumble if every country refused to play its part “bc another country is closer”. 4/9
Even if you are eventually granted refugee status, you:
▪️only get temporary leave to remain
▪️have no right to family reunion
▪️have no recourse to public funds (so risk destitution)
▪️face the constant threat of expulsion. 5/9
The government says it wants to prevent people trafficking, but this Bill pushes people into the hands of traffickers by closing other routes.
It also allows people who help asylum seekers arrive in the UK without any gain for themselves to be prosecuted. 6/9
So those who save people's lives could be criminalised.
Meanwhile Border Force officials whose actions could result in deaths at sea will be given immunity from prosecution. 7/9
This thread could go on and on.
The Bill is full of terrifying changes that will make the lives of refugees even harder.
It is completely inhumane. 8/9
So what can we do?
There aren’t enough opposition MPs to defeat this in a vote, but public pressure could force the government to U-turn.
That pressure has to be ramped up urgently. Write to your MP, organise demonstrations, voice your opposition.
Time is running out. 9/9
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On sexual harassment allegations made of Boris Johnson’s father, Nadine Dorries said “I don’t believe it happened. It never happened to me. Perhaps there is something wrong with me.”
Let’s unpack why this is so dangerous:
1. Women have a right to be believed.
When sexual harassment and abuse are sanctioned from the top, that silences all women and lets abusers get away with it.
(And misogyny exists on a spectrum, so our response to harassment also impacts victims of the most serious violence)
2. This is the myth that people you like can’t possibly also be abusers.
They can. Abusers use charm and status to perpetrate abuse.
I have spoken to both the Health Secretary and Nottingham City Council Director of Public Health, about a case of the new COVID variant detected in Nottingham. (1/5)
The household of the case and their contacts have been tested and are isolating.
There is not currently evidence of other cases, so UKHSA has assessed that wider community testing is not necessary, but this will be reviewed and there will be increased testing in schools. (2/5)
I encourage residents to continue to follow public health guidance: get vaccinated, wear face coverings, get tested no matter how mild your symptoms, and self-isolate until you receive results. (3/5)
If you thought the Policing Bill was bad before, that was nothing compared to the latest version.
Priti Patel has quietly added further measures to effectively criminalise protest.
These laws belong in a dictatorship, not a democracy.
Some of the worst new powers 👇🏽 1/5
Police will be able to stop & search at protests to avoid a "public nuisance".
If you refuse, you face jail time.
Attaching yourself to anything, carrying "equipment" for this, even potentially holding hands will be illegal. 2/5
Most terrifying of all: new Asbo-like orders can be imposed on protesters, even if no crime is committed.
These remove rights to freedom of speech and assembly + can ban you from certain places, seeing certain people, carrying certain items, encouraging protest online. 3/5
2,294 new Covid-19 cases were recorded in Nottingham in one week, up from 407 the week before.
This situation was avoidable - but the government continues to ignore warnings and put my constituents at risk.
Thread 👇🏽
We know that reopening universities before it was safe significantly contributed to the outbreak.
Student areas have been most affected, and 82% of new confirmed cases have been 18 to 22-year-olds.
Had the government listened to @UCU, we'd be in a much better position today.
If we add to this inconsistent messaging and the fiasco of the privatised test and trace system, it's clear that it's government incompetence and not the public that is to blame.
You can't tell people to be fearless and go to the pub one day, and blame them for it the next.