British Citizenship of Six Million People Could Be Threatened by Home Office Plans

Dec 7, 2021 • Exclusive: British citizenship of six million people could be jeopardised by the Home Office Nationality and Borders Bill. Two in five people in England and Wales from an ethnic minority background could become eligible to be deprived of their citizen status without warning.

New Statesman analysis of data from the Office for National Statistics also finds that two in every five people from non-white ethnic minorities (41 per cent) are likely to be eligible for deprivation of citizenship, compared with just one in 20 people categorised as white (5 per cent).

Despite expansions in this area in 2014, the government’s Nationality and Borders Bill could extend the governments powers to strip people of citizenship further still. Clause nine of the draft bill states that the government does not need to notify those deprived of their citizenship if it does not have their contact details, or if it is “for any other reason” not “reasonably practicable” to do so. It also states that notice should not be given if it is “in the public interest” not to do so.

Video features Ben van der Merwe, Chai Patel and Frances Webber.

Video edited by Phil Clarke Hill.

Imams Will Have to Register and Face Security Vetting under Home Office Plans

THE TELEGRAPH: Imams, priests, rabbis and other religious figures will have to enrol in a 'national register of faith leaders' and undergo vetting

Imams, priests, rabbis and other religious figures will have to enrol in a “national register of faith leaders” and be subject to government-specified training and security checks in the Home Office’s latest action on extremism.

The highly controversial proposal appears in a leaked draft of the Government’s new counter-extremism strategy, seen by The Telegraph, which goes substantially further than previous versions of the document.

The strategy, due to be published this autumn, says that Whitehall will “require all faiths to maintain a national register of faith leaders” and the Government will “set out the minimum level of training and checks” faith leaders must have to join the new register.

Registration will be compulsory for all faith leaders who wish to work with the public sector, including universities, the document says. In practice, most faith leaders have some dealings with the public sector and the requirement will cover the great majority. » | Andrew Gilligan | Saturday, September 12, 2015

We Can't Avoid the Threat of Islamism

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: The truth about how the Home Office views Islamic extremism - by Theresa May’s former speech-writer

David Cameron was extremely angry that the Coalition’s final legislative programme before next year’s general election was pushed from the top of the news agenda last week by “May vs Gove”.

Despite the very public split between Michael Gove, the Education Secretary, and Theresa May, the Home Secretary, at the level of policy, their differences on how best to deal with Islamic extremism are more about emphasis and nuance than radically different approaches.

Beyond last week’s stories about leaked letters and statements from the ministers’ supporters is a profoundly serious argument about what must be done in order to ensure that Muslim communities in Britain adopt British values, and are integrated into British society.

It is not just an argument about how to prevent terrorism inspired by religious fanaticism. It is also about the future of our culture, and how to ensure that it does not fragment into a series of segregated and separate groups united only by their mutual suspicion and distrust.

That is the nightmare scenario that just about everyone wants to avoid. It is one conjured up as a serious possibility not just by political parties such as Ukip and pressure groups such as Migration Watch, but also by academic researchers who study the impact of immigration. » | Alasdair Palmer | Sunday, June 08, 2014

British Muslims Fighting in Syria Could Commit Terrorist Attacks in UK
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: British Muslims fighting in Syria’s civil war could return home to carry out terrorist attacks, intelligence chiefs have warned.

There are “hundreds” of Europeans now fighting in Syria, some of whom are with groups linked to al Qaeda, the Home Office has told MPs.

In an annual report on its Contest counter-terrorism strategy, the Home Office warned of the risk to Britain and other European nations posed by foreign fighters now gaining military experience in Syria.

The Home Office warning – based on assessments by British intelligence agencies – comes as ministers debate doing more to arm and support the rebels fighting the regime of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad.

The uprising in Syria "has involved many organisations with different political views and tactics; some are connected with and supported by al Qaeda in Iraq,” the Home Office report says. » | James Kirkup, Deputy Political Editor | Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Abu Qatada Allowed to Appeal Deportation as Home Office Accused of Arrest Blunder

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The deportation of Abu Qatada descended into chaos today as it emerged the Home Office may have ordered his arrest too early meaning he still has time to appeal.

The Home Office believed that the three month deadline for Qatada to appeal had run out at midnight on Monday, and arrested him at his home ahead of his deportation.

However today his lawyers launched an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights arguing he still had a further 24 hours in which to launch his bid.

It could pave the way for a lengthy legal dispute and allow Qatada's lawyers to argue for him to be released again on bail.

Qatada's legal team claims that judges at the European Court of Human Rights were wrong three months ago when they ruled that he would not be at risk of torture if returned to Jordan, a court spokeswoman said.

The court's Grand Chamber will decide whether to hear his appeal, but the radical cleric, once described by a judge as Osama bin Laden's right hand man in Europe, cannot be deported until the court has reached a decision. » | Tom Whitehead, Security Editor | Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Banned Preacher Can Seek Damages Over Illegal Arrest

THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: A banned Islamic preacher who entered Britain illegally following a Home Office blunder is entitled to seek damages after being detained unlawfully, a judge has ruled.

Sheikh Raed Salah, a Palestinian activist, could receive thousands of pounds for being wrongfully imprisoned shortly after entering the country in June this year.

Mr Salah, 52, was able to walk through immigration at Heathrow Airport unchallenged despite being banned by Theresa May, the Home Secretary, days before.

His exclusion order had been sent to the wrong terminal at the airport allowing him to arrive unopposed. He was arrested three days later when the error was discovered.

Yesterday, the migration watchdog, Migration Watch UK, condemned the judge’s decision. Sir Andrew Green, its chairman, said: “It is quite extraordinary that someone who had no right to be in Britain in the first place should be able to claim damages for his arrest.” » | James Orr | Friday, September 30, 2011

Home Office Security Breach at Terror Court
THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH: Secret documents containing intelligence reports and details of highly sensitive diplomatic negotiations have been mistakenly released by the Home Office to a suspected terrorist’s solicitor, The Sunday Telegraph can reveal.

In a grave error which could undermine one of the government’s key counter-terrorism policies, more than 100 pages of secret documents were handed to Gareth Peirce, the human rights lawyer, who is representing an Ethiopian terror suspect who can only be identified by the letters ‘XX’.

The pages were accidentally left in a censored version of the Home Office’s case against XX, and should only have been disclosed to a special category of barrister who has been security vetted by MI5.

It can also be revealed that a similar mistake was made by Home Office lawyers last month in the deportation cases of two Pakistani students who were arrested during a terror raid in north-west England last year, but who were released without charge.

The latest error came during the Home Office’s preparations for a case at the Special Immigration Appeals Commission (SIAC) where the Ethiopian was opposing a bid by Alan Johnson, the Home Secretary, to deport him from Britain.

Robin Tam QC, for the Home Secretary, told last week’s court hearing that “inadvertent disclosures have been made by the Secretary of State” and that the mistake had been “disappointing”.

Mr Justice Mitting, the SIAC chairman, told Mr Tam: “This is becoming a habit.” >>> David Barrett, Home Affairs Correspondent | Sunday, April 18, 2010

Dhimmitude Alert! Don’t Eat Near Ramadan Fasters, Home Office Staff Told
MAIL ONLINE: Home Office staff were officially warned not to eat in front of their fasting Muslim colleagues during Ramadan – in case it made them feel hungry.

The advice came in a taxpayer-funded internal document listing do’s and don’ts during the Muslim holy month, which ends this weekend.

But the guide is now at the centre of a row with Islamic groups who said it was more likely to incite hatred of Muslims than promote understanding.

The Home Office Islamic Network produced the five-page information sheet which says: ‘In practical terms, please be sensitive when eating lunch near a Muslim colleague who is fasting.

This can make an individual feel hungrier and make it more challenging to observe the fast. >>> Jason Lewis | Saturday, September 19, 2009

Opinion – Boris Johnson: Michael Savage Poses No Risk to British Security So Why Won't MPs Say So?
THE TELEGRAPH: It is shocking that not a single MP has stood up to defend free speech, says Boris Johnson.

About 10 years ago my brother-in-law was giving me a lift through the early morning Washington traffic when he suddenly gave a whoop of joy. "It's Howie!" yelled Ivo, turning up the radio. "We gotta listen to Howie!" And it was with mounting disbelief that I listened to the next 20 minutes of the Howard Stern show, a shameless and cynical attempt to scandalise the ear.

That morning Howard was appealing to his listeners to ring in with the most tear-jerking hard-luck story. In return he was offering a nude massage at the hands of an attractive nude masseuse. In a display of Oprah Winfreyesque exhibitionism, the audience was competing for that massage. We heard of divorces, and bereavements, and embarrassing disfigurements. But the winner (I advise sensitive readers to faint now) was a man who rang in to say that he had just been diagnosed with cancer, and might lose his gonads, but had not yet had the courage to tell his girlfriend.

Howard Stern pounced. "What's her number?" he said. With lightning efficiency his producers patched the caller through to his girlfriend, and soon she was being told – live on air – that there was good news and bad news.

The bad news was that her boyfriend had cancer, and the good news was that he was the winner of a nude massage. The poor woman gasped and sobbed. I sat there in exactly the state desired by the producers of the Howard Stern show – appalled, disgusted, but also thrilled by the horror of what was apparently (and I stress apparently) taking place on the radio.

We just don't have shows like this in Britain, I said to Ivo. That's right, he said, and he told me about the shock jocks. He explained the tactics of men such as Stern and Rush Limbaugh, how they shamelessly chased after ratings by causing outrage, how they goosed the secret prejudices of their listeners. Some people tuned in because they actually agreed with what was being said. Most people just enjoyed the theatre, the vehemence, the provocation.

These shock jocks were national institutions, with millions of weekly listeners. They were a new and important part of the American constitution, and that is my first objection to the utterly demented decision by Jacqui Smith's Home Office to announce that Michael Savage, America's third most popular radio show host, is banned from entering this country. It just makes us look so infantile, so pathetic. >>> By Boris Johnson | Monday, May 11, 2009

Shock Jock Michael Savage and Others on UK Ban List Had Not Applied for Entry
TIMESONLINE: A majority of the people who were named by the Home Office as being banned from entering the country have never sought to travel to Britain, it emerged today.

Two of the 16 people named by Jacqui Smith as excluded from Britain are in prison in Russia where they are serving 20-year sentences.

The disclosure came as a US talk-show host said that he would sue the Government for defamation after being placed on the list.

Michael Weiner, also known as Michael Savage, a shock-jock broadcaster in America, has described the Koran as “a book of hate” and questioned the validity of autism.

He told his radio audience in the US that he intended to sue Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, who he described as the “lunatic... Home Secretary of England”.

He said: “To link me up with skinheads who are killing people in Russia, to put me in league with Hamas murderers who kill people on buses is defamation.”

In an article posted on his website, he said that he did not advocate violence but traditional values.

He wrote: “What does that say about the government of England? It says more about them than it says about me.”

A leading media lawyer said today that lawyers would be “falling over themselves” to offer their services. >>> Richard Ford and Frances Gibb | Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Hate Cleric, Abu Qatada, Issues Rallying Cry from Prison
Abu Qatada is considered to be the most dangerous jihadi and ideologue to have operated from Britain. He has smuggled a letter out of prison which has inflamed radicals around the world. Photo courtesy of TimesOnline
TIMESONLINE: The extremist cleric Abu Qatada has issued a 6,000-word rallying cry to his followers from inside one of Britain’s most secure prison units.

The Palestinian preacher hails the “victory” of the Mujahidin and claims that his treatment has helped to radicalise a new generation of young British Muslims.

Despite demanding his freedom, he says that “the gift of prison” has helped him to lose more than 50lb (22kg) in weight. He even suggests that a vigorous exercise programme appears to have cured his diabetes and back trouble.

The cleric boasts of being told by Bilal Abdullah, the NHS doctor jailed for the car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow in 2007, that he was heavily influenced by the cleric’s taped sermons. He describes the bomber, who narrowly failed in his attempts to blow up a nightclub and airport terminal, as “truthfully a man from the men of Islam, in knowledge, action, steadfastness and manhood”.

His communiqué was smuggled out of Long Lartin high-security jail, Worcestershire, and is circulating on jihadi websites and forums, where it is attracting widespread comment. The ease with which it has been distributed is an embarrassment for Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, who is in charge of prisons, and Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, who leads the Government’s counter-terrorism strategy. >>> Sean O’Neill, Crime and Security Editor and Richard Ford, Home Correspondent | Saturday, April 4, 2009

Jacqui! You’re Full of It!
This government has so obviously passed its sell-by date, if indeed it ever had a sell-by date. To waste taxpayers money on this nonsense is staggeringly stupid, and staggeringly weak and appeasing too.

No amount of therapy is going to solve this problem. Jacqui Smith and the Home Office, with this proposal, have shown that they have absolutely no idea of the nature of radical Islam, or indeed the nature of Islam itself. Children in kindergarten could come up with better than this!

For God’s sake, find your gonads. It's high time you did! - ©Mark

THE TELEGRAPH: Islamic extremists could escape prosecution and instead receive therapy and counselling under new Government plans to "deradicalise" religious fanatics.

The Home Office is to announce an extra £12.5 million to support new initiatives to try to stop extremism spreading.

The central element of the Home Office plan is a new national "deradicalisation" programme that would persuade converts to violent and extremist causes to change their views.

Controversially, the new plan makes clear that people who fall under the influence of violent organisations will not automatically face prosecution.

Instead, the presumption should be that some such individuals would face therapy and counselling from community groups instead of criminal charges.

Documents being distributed to local councils explain that many people who get drawn into extremism have often suffered some sort of personal trauma or crisis that makes them vulnerable to exploitation.

"We do not want to put through the criminal justice system those who are vulnerable to, or are being drawn into, violent extremism unless they have clearly committed an offence," a Home Office report says.

"It is vital that individuals and communities understand this and have the confidence to use the support structures that we shall be developing." Islamic Extremists Should Get Therapy, Home Office Tells Local Councils >>> By James Kirkup | June 3, 2008

The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Paperback - UK)
The Dawning of a New Dark Age (Hardback - UK)

Non-EU Doctors Barred from UK Posts
DAILY EXPRESS: New immigration rules will stop doctors from outside the EU applying for postgraduate training posts in the UK, it has been announced.

The Home Office has laid out new regulations to prevent overseas doctors applying for foundation and speciality training posts.



It follows criticisms that homegrown doctors are unable to find jobs once they graduate from UK medical schools. Non-EU Doctors Barred from UK Posts >>>

Mark Alexander (Paperback)
Mark Alexander (Hardback)

A National Disgrace
THE TELEGRAPH: Up to 10,000 foreign nationals could be working illegally in the security industry, the Home Secretary indicated yesterday. The figure is double the previous estimate.

Jacqui Smith told MPs that officials were still trying to find out the scale of the fiasco but, despite accusations from the Conservatives of "blunder, panic and cover-up", she denied trying to conceal the problem.

The latest controversy to hit the Home Office centres on the disclosure that sensitive security installations were being guarded by illegal immigrants. They were licensed to work by the Security Industry Authority (SIA), a government agency that checks whether they have a criminal record. '10,000 illegal immigrants' work in security (more) By Philip Johnston

TELEGRAPH COMMENT:
Scandal rooted in failure of border controls By Philip Johnston

Mark Alexander

Incompetence! Home Office Security Failure
BBC: The Home Office has admitted illegal immigrants have been mistakenly cleared for jobs as security staff.

Ministers have ordered new checks to be carried out on hundreds of thousands of people vetted by the Security Industry Authority over the past three years.

The Home Office says the SIA did not check applicants were entitled to work in the UK before granting licences.

The Tories said the system was "not fit for purpose" but the government said the new checks had "strengthened" it.

According to the Sunday Mirror, illegal immigrants are working at airports, ports and the Metropolitan Police.

The newspaper claimed 5,000 illegal immigrants were estimated to have been employed in posts such as security guards and bouncers. Security staff employed illegally (more)

Mark Alexander

Not Everything Can Be Measured in Economic Terms! Changing Demographics Are Very Important, Too
THE GUARDIAN: Immigration contributed £6bn to Britain's economic growth last year, according to new official figures today, prompting the government to claim Britain is better off with immigration than without it.

The Home Office figures provide the first full analysis of the impact of increased immigration in the last decade. The figures outlined in a 43-page report suggest many fears on the subject are unfounded.

It said that in 2006, 574,000 migrants came to live in the UK and that they contributed around a sixth of the total growth in the economy that year. UK better off with immigration, official report shows (more) By Matthew Weaver

Mark Alexander