brap

Home

World news: Race issues | guardian.co.uk

Nicholas Blincoe: Searching the BNP list for racist neighbours
(Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:31:58 GMT)
Nicholas Blincoe: Following the release of the members' list, I want to stage displays of disapproval to anyone listed who lives nearby
Haroon Siddique on publication of list of BNP members
(Thu, 20 Nov 2008 11:22:52 GMT)
Haroon Siddique on publication of list of BNP members
Leicester's 80 party members are rare voices of discontent
(Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:09:18 GMT)
The breadth of support for the British National party is revealed by its membership list, which shows supporters in virtually every corner of the country.
The "stronghold" constituencies where the BNP has performed well in recent local elections, including areas in the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Lancashire, showed high rates of membership, as did Oldham, Burnley and Bradford, sites of race riots in 2001. But areas not previously associated with far-right politics have a surprising number of BNP supporters, such as Teignbridge in Devon, Bournemouth in Dorset, and rural stretches in Norfolk, Shropshire and Wales.
The list also revealed Leicestershire to be an unexpected heartland of the far right. The county has 380 members on the list, with 80 living within Leicester itself.
In the city's outdoor market yesterday, two women wearing burkas shopped for cut-price jewellery, elderly Caribbean ladies chatted, a man wearing a turban picked out a bunch of grapes, while a long-time local trader tried to persuade them to buy his produce. It was a fitting picture of a place that has earned the unofficial title of Britain's most successful multicultural city, with a white population of only 59.5%. Predictions are that by 2020 it will become Britain's first city where ethnic minorities make up the majority.
But for some, that is fuelling a growing resentment. Simon Wright, who has worked in Leicester market for 32 years, said: "In a few years time we are going to be playing 'spot the white person' round here." The problem lay not with the longstanding minority ethnic population of Leicester, but with new immigrants, he said. "Asian people have been here for years, they have been born here. It's not about skin, it's about people who come into the country and take everything."
His was a rare voice of discontent in the city centre. Arif Takey, 32, had experienced little racism in his 15 years in the city. "There is such a mix here, it's a really friendly place," he said. "We are well integrated - white people, Muslims, Sikhs. We respect each other's beliefs and each other's cultures. That helps people see that we are the same underneath."
On the city's council estates, the occasional tattered England flag could be seen outside a squat redbrick house.
One mother of nine said she could understand why people supported the BNP. She added that she was on a waiting list for a six-bedroom house. "I'm not prejudiced but they are letting too many immigrants in, it's stupid and it's not going to be Britain no more."
In the same neighbourhood, the Guardian called on members included on the BNP list. One man explained that he had asked for information years ago from the BNP, but said he was not a member nor a racist. Asked how he felt about his details being published online, he said: "I've never had anything to do with them. I don't know why my name was on that list."
On the door of the house of another member of the list a sign read: "Unless we've asked you to call, don't knock. Don't ring. Just don't call." When the inhabitant answered, we asked if she would be willing to talk about being a member of the BNP. "No, no, no," she said as she closed the door.
- BNP and the far right
- Race issues
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Explainer: The Race Relations Act
(Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:06:00 GMT)
Race discrimination is outlawed in a range of public bodies following the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry
List reveals bitter party infighting
(Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:09:18 GMT)
The leak of the BNP membership list has exposed a rift at the top of the far-right party.
The BNP's leader, Nick Griffin, and his deputy, Simon Darby, took court action last year against six disgruntled former members of the party following a series of resignations.
The defendants listed on court papers, heard at Manchester high court in April, are Kenneth Smith, Scottish regional organiser and head of administration; his wife, Nicholla; Sadie Graham, now an independent councillor in Broxtowe, Nottinghamshire; her fiance Matthew Single; Stephen Blake; and Ian Dawson.
Blake is the former editor of the BNP's website and is an IT consultant from Stirling. Dawson is the former national organiser for membership.
In December, an internal dispute led to the resignation or expulsion of 60 of the party's local and national officials. For months the rebels had been calling for the expulsion of three other senior officials - John Walker, the national treasurer, his deputy, Dave Hannam, and Mark Collett, director of publicity, whom they accused of bringing the BNP into disrepute.
Graham and Smith launched a blog called enoughisenoughnick, detailing their complaints, and were swiftly sacked by Griffin. During the dispute that followed, members of BNP security seized a computer from Graham's home. Griffin claimed that they were recovering party property. The BNP alleged the rebels had set up "a treasonous blogspot designed to attack and smear fellow party officials".
In her resignation letter, published on the blog last December, Nicholla Smith resigned from her post as Falkirk organiser.
She said: "I will not be resigning from the BNP and will exercise my right of tribunal should Mr Griffin attempt to purge me. The disgraceful sacking of Kenny Smith, Sadie Graham, Matt Single and myself is further evidence that Mr Griffin has lost control of reality and his defence of ... Mark Collett, John Walker and David Hannam at the expense of good honest BNP people. For as long as the three scumbags remain in the BNP I will refuse to hold office and encourage others to resign their posts too. It was heartening to have received the unanimous support from the other BNP Scotland officials at our regional council meeting on Sunday and since then to have received much support from around the United Kingdom."
A large number of party officials then resigned in support of Smith and Graham or were expelled.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Police scour BNP membership to find officers breaching ban
(Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:03:35 GMT)
Every police force in the UK was tonight scouring the leaked British National party membership list for names of serving officers, after the Merseyside force confirmed it was investigating one officer's links to the far-right party.
The Prison Service pledged to oust any employee on the list and far-right supporters spoke of fear for their livelihoods as the BNP was plunged into crisis.
Party officials complained that hundreds of members had received threatening or abusive telephone calls within hours of the list being posted on the internet, and feared that the episode could lead to a damaging slump in support and membership.
Merseyside police, who discovered the name of one of its constables on the list, identified him and said that he had served briefly as the chief constable's driver. A spokesman said: "We are very clear: membership of the British National party is totally incompatible with the duties and values of the police service and Merseyside police. We will not accept a police officer or police staff being a member of BNP. As a matter of urgency, we have immediately started an investigation into all aspects of this case."
Scotland Yard, Surrey and West Yorkshire police also confirmed that they were studying the list, and the Association of Chief Police Officers said it expected every other force to follow suit.
A detective inspector serving in the professional standards department of a Midlands force, who was checking the list against his force personnel records, said: "Even people on the list who are lapsed members of the BNP, or who have just approached the party expressing an interest in joining, will be of interest to us."
Any officer found to be a member of the party will face disciplinary action and is likely to be dismissed. The Prison Service is also investigating whether any of its officers are on the list. The secret membership lists the occupations of some members, and one individual, living near York, is identified as a serving police officer.
Rod Lucas, a presenter with TalkSport radio station, was also identified as a member, but said he joined the BNP at the same time that he joined around 20 other organisations, during a research project. "I find the BNP distasteful, I wouldn't vote for them. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty," he said.
Around 13,000 names and addresses appear on the list. It is thought to include a number of lapsed members and possibly the names of individuals who contacted the party and expressed interest in joining but did not do so.
However, the BNP has confirmed that it is essentially a genuine membership list. It includes the names of a number of clergymen, an actor, two solicitors, at least one doctor and a number of primary and secondary school teachers.
A handful of those contacted by the Guardian said their names appeared by mistake, claiming to have no interest in the BNP. "We're absolutely horrified by this," said a retired teacher from West Yorkshire, who has appeared on the list with her husband. "We're absolutely devastated and wondering if we offended someone and they applied to the BNP with our names as a joke. We're contacting lawyers but what can we do?"
Many were open about their membership, however, declaring they had nothing to be ashamed of. "There's nothing wrong about being a member of the BNP," said John Page, 66, recently retired from teaching foreign students at Barnfield College in Luton. "Some people at work ? colleagues and students ? knew about my membership. I've never had any problems with it."
Ida Jordan, 80, from Preston, said she had received threats. "It was an educated male voice. He said: 'Take care now. You are a racist.' My opinion is that we should look after our own country, our own people, but I don't have any animosity toward people of a different colour or religion."
Jan Gibson, a pensioner from Quorn in Leicestershire, said she and her husband had been members for four years. "I have nothing against coloured people at all. They can't help their colour. I can't help being white," she said. "Our friends know we are in the British National party. They actually agree with us. They have not got the courage to do what we do. A lot of people think as we do."
The release of the list offers a new insight into areas of the country that appear to have the highest numbers of supporters for the BNP.
A total of 192,746 voters cast their ballot for the party in the 2005 general election, just 0.7% of the total vote, restricted to the limited numbers of constituencies where the party put up candidates. Previous analysis of the BNP's support base relied on its recent successes in local elections. The party has its largest numbers of councillors - 12 - in Barking and Dagenham, with strong representations in councils in Stoke-on-Trent and Epping Forest in Essex.
Although the police and the Prison Service are thought to be the only public bodies that prohibit membership of the BNP, many other individuals could face disciplinary action once their membership is known.

Nick Griffin, leader of the BNP, said he had little doubt that the leak was "a disgraceful act of treachery" by disgruntled former BNP officials.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Officer on leaked BNP list will be investigated, say police
(Wed, 19 Nov 2008 18:07:48 GMT)
Merseyside police is investigating whether one of its officers is a current member of the British National Party.
The force acknowledged that a serving policeman appeared to be among the names on the leaked list of BNP members put up on various websites this week.
In a short statement, Merseyside police confirmed that membership of the far right party "was totally incompatible with the duties and values of the police service".
It added: "We will not accept a police officer or police staff being a member of BNP. As a matter of urgency, we have immediately started an investigation into all aspects of this case. We will be keeping an open mind until all of the facts have been established."
The force, which named the officer apparently on the BNP list, said it had yet to establish whether he was genuinely a member of the far-right party.
Merseyside police had initially contacted the Independent Police Complaints Commission about the issue. The IPCC, however, said it was up to the local force to deal with the matter.
"On the basis of an assessment of the documentation referred, the IPCC has decided that it does not need to be involved in an investigation into this matter," the commission said.
Naseem Malik, the IPCC Commissioner for the North West, added: "I have every confidence that Merseyside police will investigate this matter thoroughly. The national policies are clear that membership of the BNP is incompatible with the requirements of the role of a police officer and I know Merseyside Police will act robustly if necessary.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Lola Adesioye: The leaked list of BNP members offers an opportunity for dialogue
(Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:30:00 GMT)
Lola Adesioye: Thanks to a leaked membership list, the entire world now knows who they are, so they might as well tell us why they joined
BNP membership list posted online by former 'hardliner'
(Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:03:14 GMT)

The entire membership list of the British National party has been posted on the internet, identifying thousands of people as secret supporters of the far right and exposing many to the risk of dismissal from work, disciplinary action or vilification.
The BNP leader, Nick Griffin, claimed today that he knew the identity of the person who published the list, describing him as a "hardliner" senior employee who left the party last year.
"He didn't like the direction the party was going and broke away, taking the list with him," Griffin told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
Around 13,500 names and home addresses were posted on a website on Monday evening.
As well as names and addresses, the list includes the home and mobile phone numbers and personal email addresses of BNP members. It is thought the list may include lapsed members of the party and the names and addresses of people who have expressed an interest in joining the party, but have not signed up. Many of the members' occupations are listed, revealing a small number of police, two solicitors, four ministers of religion, at least one doctor and a number of primary and secondary school teachers.
The list was removed from an internet blog today after complaints by the far right group.
A BNP spokesman, Simon Darby, said: "If we find out the name of the person who published this list it will turn out to be one of the most foolish things they have done in their life." Griffin insisted this did not represent a threat of violence but the reality that the person faced prison for breaching a high court injunction. The BNP leader admitted the party was relying on the Human Rights Act, based on EU legislation, which it opposes, to try to protect the privacy of its members.
He said he had no problem with publication of members' occupations but listing their names and addresses represented "a nasty piece of intimidation on behalf of the Labour regime".
However, Griffin welcomed the publicity the story had garnered for the party, saying the list showed the perception of the average BNP member as a "skinhead oik" was "simply not true".
Last night, Darby said the police had been called in to investigate the data security breach. Describing the posting as "malevolent and spiteful", he said: "This isn't a question of us mislaying the information, this is theft."
The BNP list includes the names and ages of children who have become members of the party after a parent has taken out a family membership, and several people who have joined the party at the age of 16.
Against the name of a woman said to be a serving police officer and living on the Wirral, Merseyside, is the note: "Discretion required re employment concerns - police officer", along with the names and ages of a number of her children.
Other notes against the names of individuals include: "Discretion requested (employment concerns), government employee, IT consultant" and "activist (discretion requested), teacher (secondary school)".
The BNP is known to go to considerable lengths to conceal the identities of members. Membership lists are held on computer spreadsheets, usually by an official based in York. He sends limited lists to local organisers as encrypted attachments to emails that can be accessed only by officials who have been given a password.
The BNP conceded that very few people would have had access to its full membership list. The party said the list was not up to date, featuring no members who had signed up since late 2007, and included the names of people who had never been members of the party. The party said it had obtained an injunction this year at the high court in Manchester to prevent the misuse of its membership list.
Griffin confirmed on the party's website that much of the list was genuine, and that it contained data stored at some point between November 30 and December 2 2007. "This latest attack is not really directed against our own people, who are already tough-minded and know that nothing ever comes of this sort of bluster, so much as against the thousands of [members of the UK Independence party] who are thinking of joining us.
"It probably will frighten some of them, but it's water off a duck's back to the stout hearts of the British National party."
Last night, internet chat rooms frequented by British supporters of the far right were buzzing with anger, indignation and considerable alarm. One typical posting said: "The most shocking thing is some of the comments by the names! God help anyone who is in the army, the prison service, health care, a police officer or a teacher."
It is thought the information commissioner, who enforces the Data Protection Act, may investigate the matter, looking not only at the posting of the list but at the amount of information the BNP has been storing about its members.
A spokesperson for the Information Commissioner's Office said: "Following media reports that the personal details of BNP members have been incorrectly disclosed, we will be contacting the party to establish the full facts. We will then decide what action, if any, is appropriate.
"We encourage all organisations to alert the Information Commissioner's Office if they discover a security breach has occurred."
The membership list reveals that the BNP has a handful of members in Australia, one in Oman and around 17 living in the United States. Some of the members' hobbies are listed. One gives her occupation as "holistic therapist" and her pastimes as "metaphysics, cartoon drawing". Another lists his hobbies as "fantail doves, koi carp, gardening".
There are one or two insights into reasons that people have left the party. Against the name of one lapsed member from Gillingham, Kent, is the note: "Objects to being told he shouldn't wear a bomber jacket."
? Additional reporting Duncan Campbell and Paul Lewis
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media...
Richest British Asians increase their wealth despite downturn
(Wed, 19 Nov 2008 00:16:41 GMT)
List led by billionaire steel magnate Swraj Paul and Mike Jatania, a beauty products entrepreneur

Politics: Immigration policy | guardian.co.uk

Immigration falls and set to decline further in recession
(Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:05:59 GMT)
A decline in immigration is starting to accelerate as the recession bites, with a 36% fall in the number of Poles and other east Europeans coming to work in Britain recorded so far this year.
Figures published yesterday by the Office of National Statistics show that even before the economic slowdown, total immigrant arrivals in Britain were lower in 2007 at 577,000 than the 591,000 who came in 2006.
This was accompanied by a sharp fall in emigration from Britain - down 60,000 from a record peak of 400,000 in 2006 to 340,000 last year. Australia and Spain remain the favourite destinations for Britons going to live abroad.
This decline in the number of people leaving the country to start a new life abroad meant that the net migration figure - the difference between those coming in and those leaving the country for more than 12 months - for 2007 published yesterday rose by 46,000 to 237,000.
Meanwhile, the latest asylum figures show that applications to Britain rose by 12% this summer, with Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran and Iraq the top five countries from which people were fleeing.
There were 6,620 new asylum applications between July and September, the fifth month in succession that the figure has risen.
The latest figures show that 28% of asylum seekers are being granted refugee status or humanitarian protection on initial decision, with a further 24% succeeding on appeal. A total of 2,415 people, including 55 children, are held in detention pending their deportation.
The Conservatives and anti-immigration groups yesterday seized on this rise in net migration to claim it as fresh evidence that immigration was out of control.
But Danny Sriskandarajah, head of migration at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said that those who saw the 2007 figures as evidence of uncontrolled immigration were missing the point.
"The real story is that there are already signs that immigration is starting to slow in 2008. Scaremongers who spread panic about immigration fuelling population growth to 70 million fall into the trap of thinking that the next decade will look just like the last," he said.
"Migration ebbs and flows over time. Immigration boomed when the economy was booming and if previous recessions are anything to go by, we may end up losing more people than we gain."
The detailed figures for east Europeans confirm the sharp fall in the number of Poles and Slovaks coming to work in Britain this summer. While 59,000 Poles and other east Europeans registered to work in Britain between July and September 2007, the number fell to 38,000 over the same period this year. This is the lowest level since Poland joined the EU in 2004.
This decline is matched among arrivals from the newest European Union states, Bulgaria and Romania. Only 6,515 registered to work in Britain this summer, compared with 9,470 in 2007. The decline is likely to influence a decision by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, next month on whether to lift restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians working in Britain.
National insurance registrations for foreign nationals working in Britain in the first half of this year were also down by 13%.
The immigration minister, Phil Woolas, said the figures showed a dramatic drop in the number of Poles coming to work this year. "It suggests that regeneration in Poland is encouraging people to stay in their home country," he said.
"On top of this, our new points system means only those from outside Europe with the skills we need will be able to work or study here, and no more."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Response: Phil Woolas should blame his own department, not asylum lawyers
(Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:19:58 GMT)
Response: The Home Office's culture of disbelief is the reason for so many successful appeals, says Caroline Slocock
Keith Best: Phil Woolas should show some regret at Labour's treatment of asylum seekers
(Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:33:10 GMT)
Keith Best: Instead of displaying contempt for due process, Phil Woolas should show some regret at Labour's treatment of asylum seekers
UK net immigration rises to 237,000
(Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:33:54 GMT)
Net migration into the UK rose by 25% to 237,000 people last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The increase has sparked a row between government ministers and the Conservatives over immigration controls, prompting calls for an annual limit on new arrivals.
Statistics released today reveal that the absolute numbers arriving to live in Britain for a year or more in 2007 fell slightly, but the emigration level dipped significantly. Figures show that 577,000 people came to live in the UK for a year or more while 340,000 people left.
In the previous year, the comparable figures were 591,000 arriving and 400,000 leaving. That produced a net immigration figure of 191,000 in 2006.
The annual report from the ONS attempts to track arrivals and departures from UK borders. Most of those arriving last year ? 502,000 (87% of the total) ? were non-British citizens.
The largest national contingent came from Poland. An estimated 96,000 Polish citizens migrated into the UK in 2007.
Home Office figures show the number of people from eastern European countries registering for work in the UK this year has declined. There were 21,000 fewer such registrations between July and September, compared with the same period in 2007.
Last year's net immigration figure is just below the record estimate of 244,000 in 2004. "Net migration has remained high since then in comparison with earlier years," the ONS commented.
Australia was the most popular destination for British citizens moving abroad, followed by Spain and New Zealand. The number of Britons departing to live in France halved from 20,00 in 2006 to 10,000 last year.
The immigration minister, Phil Woolas, maintained that the net migration figure rose because of the decline in people leaving the country.
The number of people entering the UK on work permits would have fallen by 12% if the improved points-based system for assessing would-be immigrants had been in force last year, he said.
"These figures predate our huge shake-up to the immigration system," he said. "Centre stage is our points system, which means only those we need ? and no more ? can come here to work and study and gives us the flexibility to raise or lower the bar according to the needs of the labour market and the country as a whole.
"Today's figures show that applications from east Europeans have this year fallen to their lowest level since 2004 and research suggests that half of those who came to the UK to work have now gone home."
The Conservatives said the figures showed immigration was out of control. The shadow home secretary, Dominic Grieve, said: "Immigration can be of real benefit to the country but only if it is properly controlled.
"These figures betray a government that has completely lost control over the past 10 years. This chaos is likely to increase as the home secretary and new immigration minister continue to be at loggerheads over government policy."
Nicholas Soames and Frank Field, co-chairmen of the Commons cross-party group on balanced migration, said the figures were a shock. "Net migration is much higher than expected ? up by nearly 25% to almost a quarter of a million in one year ? and very close to the record in 2004," they said in a joint statement. "Unless firm action is taken very soon, our population will hit 70 million even earlier than the government's present forecast of 2028.
"There is no way in which our public services can cope with such a rapid increase. Nor can we possibly build the necessary houses on remotely this timescale. We need to balance migration, and balance it soon."
- Immigration and asylum
- Immigration policy
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Asylum-seeker charities are just playing the system, says Woolas
(Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:04:11 GMT)
Immigration minister Phil Woolas has attacked lawyers and charities working on behalf of asylum seekers, accusing them of undermining the law and "playing the system". In an interview with the Guardian, Woolas described the legal professionals and NGO workers as "an industry", and said most asylum seekers were not fleeing persecution but were economic migrants.
"The system is played by migration lawyers and NGOs to the nth degree," Woolas said. "By giving false hope and by undermining the legal system, [they] actually cause more harm than they do good."
It is the latest in a series of controversial public interventions by Woolas since he was appointed immigration minister by Gordon Brown in the October reshuffle.
Immigration lawyers said Woolas's comments were "absolutely extraordinary".
Sophie Brown, chair of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (Ilpa), said: "Lawyers can only work with the law. To say they are undermining the law is an extraordinary comment to make."
Woolas described how his outspoken remarks had triggered accusations he was the new Enoch Powell, an attack he rejects. "Enoch Powell was trying to divide this country. I'm trying to heal this country by allowing us to have a mature debate on immigration," he said.
In one case, Woolas said, an asylum seeker had won the right to stay after going through six layers of appeal. "That person has no right to be in this country but I'm sure that there is an industry out there [with] a vested interest."
He concedes there are some harrowing, genuine cases of people fleeing persecution, which he claims are undermined by economic migrants. He recounted how another asylum seeker visited his constituency office in Oldham: "One lady showed me the scars on her thighs from where the soldiers had raped her, so I know," said Woolas, "but I cannot take a decision on that lady's behalf if I am fogged by cases that are misusing the law."
Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the appeals process was a vital safety net for asylum seekers who are "criminalised" on arriving in Britain. "Having your asylum claim rejected does not make you an economic migrant. For some nationalities, such as Eritreans and Somalis, almost half of refused asylum seekers have their cases upheld on appeal. These are people who would be in danger of persecution such as murder, torture or rape if sent back to the repressive regimes they are fleeing."
Woolas has raised the rhetoric at a time when the asylum issue has substantially diminished. At the peak there were more than 76,000 applications a year, in 2000; last year there were fewer than 24,000.
Woolas told the Guardian the "primary purpose" of immigration policy was to reassure the public that the government was in control of immigration. "The public recognise that we don't know the exact numbers. They see the asylum backlog and what they fear is that we don't have any control over the system," he said.
He argued he was not pandering to the far right by raising concerns about asylum seekers. "You can only stop it being seen as a problem when you can convince the public you're in control of it."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Jeremy Seabrook: The fortress Britain myth
(Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:08:09 GMT)
Jeremy Seabrook: It's easy to believe that we are united by ill will to refugees, but the spirit of 1943 suggests otherwise
Patrick Barkham on Phil Woolas's immigration stance: 'You can't come in'
(Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:05:42 GMT)

Phil Woolas points to a framed photograph on his office wall. "There's me pictured with God." Taken when the immigration minister was an aspiring MP, the photograph shows Woolas with huge glasses and a beatific grin as he stands beside the object of his worship. Not Tony Blair or Gordon Brown, but Manchester United's French-born striker Eric Cantona. The story behind the picture says an awful lot about the Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, and not just that football is his favourite escape from politics.
It was taken at United's training ground a week before Woolas sailed into parliament in 1997. "Sir Alex [Ferguson] organised a photocall to help me with my election. It's the only time in my life I've been speechless." He still sounds chuffed. Cantona's signed shirt later fetched £17,500 at a charity auction when it was bought by Piers Morgan, then Daily Mirror editor. Woolas, a tough, clever former trade union spin doctor who learned at the elbow of Peter Mandelson, delights in recalling how he "pushed up" Morgan by getting a rich friend in the audience to bid up to £10,000. Most importantly of all, he says, the picture of him meeting Cantona and Ryan Giggs "got in the Oldham Evening Chronicle just before the general election".
If it was Cantona who won it in 1997, he also looms large in the minister's new job. Sitting on a cream sofa in the Home Office headquarters, Woolas admits that such talented foreign players have enriched the Premier League. Days after his promotion to the immigration brief last month, however, Woolas attracted the opprobrium of both the right and the left for appearing to advocate a cap on migrants. The government, he promised, would not allow Britain's population (currently 61 million) to rise above 70 million. News stories now carry the prefix "gaffe-prone" next to his name and it was reported his anxious boss, the home secretaryJacqui Smith, withdrew him from Question Time.
Woolas says he has already been accused of being "the new Enoch Powell" but explains that he is determined to smash the perception that politicians are out of touch with real people. "Letting people know that you understand in this modern world is as important as what policy you pursue," he says. "As immigration is the second biggest issue in communities, we have to bloody well talk about it."
For a start, Woolas, who eagerly flashes his Manchester United season ticket at me, is responsible for football-related visas. A partisan Red, he takes boyish enjoyment in the fact he revoked the visa of Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted Thai prime minister and former owner of United's deadly rivals Manchester City. "Nothing to do with football, I promise you," he chuckles. "The briefing ... didn't mention the fact that he was the ex-Man City chairman - it just quite rightly said he has been charged with fraud and he's not a desirable person - but it occurred to me, of course."
As in wider society, it is claimed in football that foreign migrants have put British workers out of a job: for example, plenty of United's homegrown youth stars have been forced to look elsewhere for first-team football. Woolas agrees with the controversial Labour soundbite of British jobs for British workers. So would he support a restriction on foreign players in the Premier League? "No," he says. "You don't want to do it because you don't want to restrict people's enjoyment, and football has got better [from the influx of foreign players]." He accepts that "there is an element of double standards" in restricting other workers - as the government's points-based visa system does. He argues, however, that foreigners, as well as black British players, have not only made the Premier League more exciting but have helped "break down racial stereotyping".
Woolas grew up in Worsthorne, just outside Burnley. His village was the first ward to elect a BNP councillor. He went to school in nearby Nelson and joined Labour "because of racial tension", he says. "For me this journey started in Nelson in 1976. Coming here," he thrusts an arm across his large office, "is a vindication for me of what I've been saying for a number of years. I hope that doesn't sound arrogant but that's what I feel. It's not a coincidence, I think, that Gordon has asked me to do the job. He knew my views, he knew I'd be outspoken."
He has made a career out of it. As communities minister, he called for the sacking of Aishah Azmi, a Muslim teaching assistant who eventually lost her discrimination case over wearing the niqab at work. He was slapped down by the prime minister's official spokesman after fuelling tabloid headlines by claiming that inbreeding was causing birth defects in the Pakistani community. He even attracted populist headlines as climate change minister when he said it was morally unacceptable to drink bottled water.
He is clutching a Fairtrade coffee today, but his fondness for sending the political compass spinning in unpredictable directions has not deserted him. David Cameron "is a man of integrity", he declares, before taking a more familiar tack: "He's completely and utterly out of his depth."
Outspokenness is one attribute he says he hopes that people will remember him for. "It's very important in politics that the public see politicians being real people, and you just have to accept in a 24/7 world that your words are going to be used against you and misinterpreted and twisted." He leans forward. "What's important is that we're real. You can hide behind your desk and not say anything or you can get out there and get your hands dirty. That's particularly true on immigration."
Woolas talks a lot about getting his hands dirty. His critics say his rhetoric and tactics have often descended into the gutter. He first contested his supposedly unwinnable constituency in a 1995 byelection and was narrowly defeated by the Lib Dems. Unusually unforgiving in victory, Paddy Ashdown claimed that some Labour...
More illegal immigrants slip through security net
(Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:56:34 GMT)
Another 1,350 illegal immigrants have slipped through vetting checks for sensitive security jobs, it was disclosed today
200,000 jobs barred to non-European migrants
(Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:03:38 GMT)
Two hundred thousand skilled jobs in Britain will be closed to non-European migrants from November 27, when the new points-based immigration system comes into effect, the Home Office announced yesterday.
The official shortage occupations list, published yesterday, which will be opened to skilled workers from outside Europe, covers 800,000 jobs, compared with the estimated 1m vacancies covered by the existing work permit system. The largest occupations being closed to non-EU migrants are doctors, secondary school teachers and most nursing jobs.
The final list of professions covers 100,000 posts more than the provisional list proposed by the migration advisory committee, which is made up of labour market economists. The flow of skilled migration from outside Europe is expected to fall by between 30,000 and 70,000 people a year as a result of the introduction of the shortage occupation list.
The Home Office said that social workers were being added to the list - a decision that was welcomed by the British Association of Social Workers, which said 12% of social work posts remained unfilled across the country.
The borders and immigration minister, Phil Woolas, said that he had also asked the migration advisory committee to further review the position of skilled chefs, senior care workers, qualified town planners and teachers by next March.
The shortage list defines a skilled chef as earning at least £8.10 an hour and a senior care worker as earning at least £8.80 an hour - requirements that have drawn strong protests both from the ethnic catering industry and social care sector. In schools, only maths and science teaching posts have been declared open to overseas migrants.
The shortage occupation list forms the basis of tier two of the new five-tier points-based system, coming into effect later this month. Under tier two, companies must pass the resident labour market test - advertise the job for between two and four weeks in Britain before they can recruit someone from outside Europe. Applicants must have English language skills, enough money to support themselves for the first month, and prospective earnings of more than £24,000.
As well as expected shortage occupations, such as chemical engineers and construction managers, the official list also includes more unusual jobs such as sheep shearers and ballet dancers - although the latter have to be up to Royal Ballet standards to qualify. In Scotland, the jobs of speech therapists, nurses in care units for elderly people and frozen-fish filleters will also be open to non-EU migrants.
Woolas said yesterday that had the new system been in place last year, there would have been 12% fewer people coming into Britain through the work permit route: "On top of this, the strict new shortage list means 200,000 fewer jobs are available via the shortage occupation route."
Professor David Metcalf, the migration advisory group chairman, said the government had decided that social workers would be on the list for a transitional period while his committee reviewed the evidence of a shortage.
"This evidence was not submitted in time for our first report. We will continue to review any evidence and update the list if necessary."
Heather Wakefield, of Unison, the public sector union, said that ministers should make sure that their "tough stance" on migration did not harm vulnerable people.
"The social care sector would collapse without highly skilled migrant workers who keep care homes, homecare services and social work teams running."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
UK 'still good place for overseas students'
(Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:40:37 GMT)
New visa requirements will not deter overseas students, the British Council insisted this week, ahead of the launch of a competition to highlight the contribution they make to life in the UK.
Critics claim the new points-based system will make UK universities less welcoming just as the perception of studying in the US improves after Barack Obama's election victory.
But Pat Killingley, head of higher education at the British Council, said: "It's not draconian, it's about transparency but with visa changes it's the perception that's the issue."

"We've been doing a lot of work to explain to students what it's about.
"We know international students and their parents are concerned about student safety and [the new scheme] should be one of the things that make it safer for them as we will know who's in the country."
Criticism of the visa requirements comes ahead of International Education Week, which starts on November 17.
The week, aimed at highlighting the benefits of international education and exchange worldwide, will be held in parallel in the UK and the US.
Norman Renshaw, managing director of student exchange company InTuition Languages, said he had seen a flurry of interest after the US voted in Barack Obama as president-elect.
"It is early days and might be a blip but we have just had a really busy week of enquiries, which could be attributed to the Obama effect," he said.
He said the liberal arts degrees offered by US universities are especially popular.
However, the US entry requirements are still more draconian than the new UK points system, he said.
"Our laws will still be the least onerous of the three locations where English language education is sought," he said.
British Council research into the experiences overseas students have at UK universities found that many students help local communities, support or set up charities, create and develop businesses and take part in government initiatives.
The UK gets a significant return on any investment it makes into attracting international students, the council argued. Universities gain a great deal more than just fee income.
Over the last seven years, more than 11,500 international students have entered the council's competition where entrants write a "letter home" about their experiences of studying and living in the UK.
The 2009 competition launches on November 11 when the official website for entries goes live.
Entries must contain details of personal development and initiative that illustrate and underline students' new life-skills and achievements not just from studying in the UK but also through living here.
One previous winner is Muzzamil Lakhani, a visually impaired student from Pakistan in the final year of a physics with astrophysics degree at the University of Bristol.
He has worked as a student ambassador and mentor.
He has been an examinations invigilator, run the London marathon, been to a Downing Street reception, hosted his own radio show in Bristol, worked as a gym fitness advisor, been a volunteer in local schools and trained as a counsellor for disabled students.
He said: "Winning the Shine! award gave me confidence for the first time that I was good enough to compete with the very best in the world in spite of my visual impairment.
"I became a celebrity in Pakistan and in Bristol, and it pushed my confidence into outer space."
Christina Yan Zhang from China has been involved in political life and acted as an ambassador at home and abroad for Loughborough University, where she is currently studying for a PhD in civil and building engineering.
As Loughborough student union's first global development officer and a committee member of the National Union of Students campaign committee, she has successfully lobbied Conservative leader David Cameron over continuing investment into the Prime Minister's Initiative to attract more overseas students to the UK.
Christina attended the Beijing Olympics as a representative of Loughborough University, helping to promote the university in the Chinese media, including securing an article in the People's Daily and giving three interviews for BBC World Service China.
Killingley said: "It's really helpful to explain to other overseas students what they can expect to get out of an experience in the UK."
The closing date for entries for the 2009 competition is January 19 with final judging panels in April and the awards ceremony on April 22.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

UK news: Immigration and asylum | guardian.co.uk

Immigration falls and set to decline further in recession
(Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:05:59 GMT)
A decline in immigration is starting to accelerate as the recession bites, with a 36% fall in the number of Poles and other east Europeans coming to work in Britain recorded so far this year.
Figures published yesterday by the Office of National Statistics show that even before the economic slowdown, total immigrant arrivals in Britain were lower in 2007 at 577,000 than the 591,000 who came in 2006.
This was accompanied by a sharp fall in emigration from Britain - down 60,000 from a record peak of 400,000 in 2006 to 340,000 last year. Australia and Spain remain the favourite destinations for Britons going to live abroad.
This decline in the number of people leaving the country to start a new life abroad meant that the net migration figure - the difference between those coming in and those leaving the country for more than 12 months - for 2007 published yesterday rose by 46,000 to 237,000.
Meanwhile, the latest asylum figures show that applications to Britain rose by 12% this summer, with Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran and Iraq the top five countries from which people were fleeing.
There were 6,620 new asylum applications between July and September, the fifth month in succession that the figure has risen.
The latest figures show that 28% of asylum seekers are being granted refugee status or humanitarian protection on initial decision, with a further 24% succeeding on appeal. A total of 2,415 people, including 55 children, are held in detention pending their deportation.
The Conservatives and anti-immigration groups yesterday seized on this rise in net migration to claim it as fresh evidence that immigration was out of control.
But Danny Sriskandarajah, head of migration at the Institute for Public Policy Research, said that those who saw the 2007 figures as evidence of uncontrolled immigration were missing the point.
"The real story is that there are already signs that immigration is starting to slow in 2008. Scaremongers who spread panic about immigration fuelling population growth to 70 million fall into the trap of thinking that the next decade will look just like the last," he said.
"Migration ebbs and flows over time. Immigration boomed when the economy was booming and if previous recessions are anything to go by, we may end up losing more people than we gain."
The detailed figures for east Europeans confirm the sharp fall in the number of Poles and Slovaks coming to work in Britain this summer. While 59,000 Poles and other east Europeans registered to work in Britain between July and September 2007, the number fell to 38,000 over the same period this year. This is the lowest level since Poland joined the EU in 2004.
This decline is matched among arrivals from the newest European Union states, Bulgaria and Romania. Only 6,515 registered to work in Britain this summer, compared with 9,470 in 2007. The decline is likely to influence a decision by the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, next month on whether to lift restrictions on Bulgarians and Romanians working in Britain.
National insurance registrations for foreign nationals working in Britain in the first half of this year were also down by 13%.
The immigration minister, Phil Woolas, said the figures showed a dramatic drop in the number of Poles coming to work this year. "It suggests that regeneration in Poland is encouraging people to stay in their home country," he said.
"On top of this, our new points system means only those from outside Europe with the skills we need will be able to work or study here, and no more."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Response: Phil Woolas should blame his own department, not asylum lawyers
(Thu, 20 Nov 2008 00:19:58 GMT)
Response: The Home Office's culture of disbelief is the reason for so many successful appeals, says Caroline Slocock
Keith Best: Phil Woolas should show some regret at Labour's treatment of asylum seekers
(Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:33:10 GMT)
Keith Best: Instead of displaying contempt for due process, Phil Woolas should show some regret at Labour's treatment of asylum seekers
UK net immigration rises to 237,000
(Wed, 19 Nov 2008 11:33:54 GMT)
Net migration into the UK rose by 25% to 237,000 people last year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The increase has sparked a row between government ministers and the Conservatives over immigration controls, prompting calls for an annual limit on new arrivals.
Statistics released today reveal that the absolute numbers arriving to live in Britain for a year or more in 2007 fell slightly, but the emigration level dipped significantly. Figures show that 577,000 people came to live in the UK for a year or more while 340,000 people left.
In the previous year, the comparable figures were 591,000 arriving and 400,000 leaving. That produced a net immigration figure of 191,000 in 2006.
The annual report from the ONS attempts to track arrivals and departures from UK borders. Most of those arriving last year ? 502,000 (87% of the total) ? were non-British citizens.
The largest national contingent came from Poland. An estimated 96,000 Polish citizens migrated into the UK in 2007.
Home Office figures show the number of people from eastern European countries registering for work in the UK this year has declined. There were 21,000 fewer such registrations between July and September, compared with the same period in 2007.
Last year's net immigration figure is just below the record estimate of 244,000 in 2004. "Net migration has remained high since then in comparison with earlier years," the ONS commented.
Australia was the most popular destination for British citizens moving abroad, followed by Spain and New Zealand. The number of Britons departing to live in France halved from 20,00 in 2006 to 10,000 last year.
The immigration minister, Phil Woolas, maintained that the net migration figure rose because of the decline in people leaving the country.
The number of people entering the UK on work permits would have fallen by 12% if the improved points-based system for assessing would-be immigrants had been in force last year, he said.
"These figures predate our huge shake-up to the immigration system," he said. "Centre stage is our points system, which means only those we need ? and no more ? can come here to work and study and gives us the flexibility to raise or lower the bar according to the needs of the labour market and the country as a whole.
"Today's figures show that applications from east Europeans have this year fallen to their lowest level since 2004 and research suggests that half of those who came to the UK to work have now gone home."
The Conservatives said the figures showed immigration was out of control. The shadow home secretary, Dominic Grieve, said: "Immigration can be of real benefit to the country but only if it is properly controlled.
"These figures betray a government that has completely lost control over the past 10 years. This chaos is likely to increase as the home secretary and new immigration minister continue to be at loggerheads over government policy."
Nicholas Soames and Frank Field, co-chairmen of the Commons cross-party group on balanced migration, said the figures were a shock. "Net migration is much higher than expected ? up by nearly 25% to almost a quarter of a million in one year ? and very close to the record in 2004," they said in a joint statement. "Unless firm action is taken very soon, our population will hit 70 million even earlier than the government's present forecast of 2028.
"There is no way in which our public services can cope with such a rapid increase. Nor can we possibly build the necessary houses on remotely this timescale. We need to balance migration, and balance it soon."
- Immigration and asylum
- Immigration policy
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Asylum-seeker charities are just playing the system, says Woolas
(Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:04:11 GMT)
Immigration minister Phil Woolas has attacked lawyers and charities working on behalf of asylum seekers, accusing them of undermining the law and "playing the system". In an interview with the Guardian, Woolas described the legal professionals and NGO workers as "an industry", and said most asylum seekers were not fleeing persecution but were economic migrants.
"The system is played by migration lawyers and NGOs to the nth degree," Woolas said. "By giving false hope and by undermining the legal system, [they] actually cause more harm than they do good."
It is the latest in a series of controversial public interventions by Woolas since he was appointed immigration minister by Gordon Brown in the October reshuffle.
Immigration lawyers said Woolas's comments were "absolutely extraordinary".
Sophie Brown, chair of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (Ilpa), said: "Lawyers can only work with the law. To say they are undermining the law is an extraordinary comment to make."
Woolas described how his outspoken remarks had triggered accusations he was the new Enoch Powell, an attack he rejects. "Enoch Powell was trying to divide this country. I'm trying to heal this country by allowing us to have a mature debate on immigration," he said.
In one case, Woolas said, an asylum seeker had won the right to stay after going through six layers of appeal. "That person has no right to be in this country but I'm sure that there is an industry out there [with] a vested interest."
He concedes there are some harrowing, genuine cases of people fleeing persecution, which he claims are undermined by economic migrants. He recounted how another asylum seeker visited his constituency office in Oldham: "One lady showed me the scars on her thighs from where the soldiers had raped her, so I know," said Woolas, "but I cannot take a decision on that lady's behalf if I am fogged by cases that are misusing the law."
Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the appeals process was a vital safety net for asylum seekers who are "criminalised" on arriving in Britain. "Having your asylum claim rejected does not make you an economic migrant. For some nationalities, such as Eritreans and Somalis, almost half of refused asylum seekers have their cases upheld on appeal. These are people who would be in danger of persecution such as murder, torture or rape if sent back to the repressive regimes they are fleeing."
Woolas has raised the rhetoric at a time when the asylum issue has substantially diminished. At the peak there were more than 76,000 applications a year, in 2000; last year there were fewer than 24,000.
Woolas told the Guardian the "primary purpose" of immigration policy was to reassure the public that the government was in control of immigration. "The public recognise that we don't know the exact numbers. They see the asylum backlog and what they fear is that we don't have any control over the system," he said.
He argued he was not pandering to the far right by raising concerns about asylum seekers. "You can only stop it being seen as a problem when you can convince the public you're in control of it."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Jeremy Seabrook: The fortress Britain myth
(Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:08:09 GMT)
Jeremy Seabrook: It's easy to believe that we are united by ill will to refugees, but the spirit of 1943 suggests otherwise
Pair used spy gadgets in immigration test scam
(Sat, 15 Nov 2008 00:07:23 GMT)
As scams go there was no faulting the ingenuity or technical prowess. Using a combination of radio transmitters, laptop computers and tiny surveillance cameras, Rong Yang and Steven Lee created a foolproof way for immigrants to pass a crucial test that allows them to stay in the UK.
Success in the "knowledge of life" test, which involves 24 multiple choice questions and has to be passed to settle permanently in the UK, is reliant on studying a special handbook.
Topics covered include: a knowledge of where migrants have come from in the past and why; what kinds of work they have done; the history of women's rights in Britain; which drugs are illegal; and the minimum ages for buying alcohol and cigarettes.
For a fee of £1,000 Lee and Yang helped people cheat. Their scam, the first of its kind uncovered by police in the UK, was discovered when a member of the public noticed two men sitting in a BMW car outside Wimbledon library. The witness saw wires running from under the bonnet to the inside of the car and contacted police. Officers searched the car and found it contained surveillance equipment and laptop computers. A Chinese man, Ka Hung Pang, who had taken an immigration test that day, was in the car with Lee and Yang.
The men initially claimed they were using the equipment to watch Chinese television, but as officers were about to leave with the three men another Chinese man emerged who had just finished the test.
Lee and Yang directed test applicants via a buttonhole camera, microphone and earpiece. They would tell the person using the earpiece to move so the camera was pointed at the exam paper. Sitting in their car outside, Lee and Yang were able to see the test questions and tell the person which box to tick.
Sergeant Dominic Washington said the organisers of the scam had made thousands of pounds. "Working with colleagues from across the borough and the Met we believe that we have uncovered an established criminal enterprise that may be in operation in other parts of the country. We will now be educating colleagues about this type of crime, and hopefully its raised profile and extra vigilance from police will deter others from getting involved."
Lee, 36, and Yang, 28, of Redhill, Surrey, were jailed for eight months at Kingston crown court this week after they were found guilty of facilitating a breach of immigration law.
Two Chinese men who took the test, Ka Hung Pang, 52, of Horsham, and En Zhuang, 38, of Deptford High Street, were sentenced to 180 hours' community work for deception.
- Immigration and asylum
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
More illegal immigrants slip through security net
(Fri, 14 Nov 2008 11:56:34 GMT)
Another 1,350 illegal immigrants have slipped through vetting checks for sensitive security jobs, it was disclosed today
Yemeni immigrant workers
(Wed, 12 Nov 2008 10:01:36 GMT)
A new book tells the story of migrants who left Yemen to work in Britain
200,000 jobs barred to non-European migrants
(Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:03:38 GMT)
Two hundred thousand skilled jobs in Britain will be closed to non-European migrants from November 27, when the new points-based immigration system comes into effect, the Home Office announced yesterday.
The official shortage occupations list, published yesterday, which will be opened to skilled workers from outside Europe, covers 800,000 jobs, compared with the estimated 1m vacancies covered by the existing work permit system. The largest occupations being closed to non-EU migrants are doctors, secondary school teachers and most nursing jobs.
The final list of professions covers 100,000 posts more than the provisional list proposed by the migration advisory committee, which is made up of labour market economists. The flow of skilled migration from outside Europe is expected to fall by between 30,000 and 70,000 people a year as a result of the introduction of the shortage occupation list.
The Home Office said that social workers were being added to the list - a decision that was welcomed by the British Association of Social Workers, which said 12% of social work posts remained unfilled across the country.
The borders and immigration minister, Phil Woolas, said that he had also asked the migration advisory committee to further review the position of skilled chefs, senior care workers, qualified town planners and teachers by next March.
The shortage list defines a skilled chef as earning at least £8.10 an hour and a senior care worker as earning at least £8.80 an hour - requirements that have drawn strong protests both from the ethnic catering industry and social care sector. In schools, only maths and science teaching posts have been declared open to overseas migrants.
The shortage occupation list forms the basis of tier two of the new five-tier points-based system, coming into effect later this month. Under tier two, companies must pass the resident labour market test - advertise the job for between two and four weeks in Britain before they can recruit someone from outside Europe. Applicants must have English language skills, enough money to support themselves for the first month, and prospective earnings of more than £24,000.
As well as expected shortage occupations, such as chemical engineers and construction managers, the official list also includes more unusual jobs such as sheep shearers and ballet dancers - although the latter have to be up to Royal Ballet standards to qualify. In Scotland, the jobs of speech therapists, nurses in care units for elderly people and frozen-fish filleters will also be open to non-EU migrants.
Woolas said yesterday that had the new system been in place last year, there would have been 12% fewer people coming into Britain through the work permit route: "On top of this, the strict new shortage list means 200,000 fewer jobs are available via the shortage occupation route."
Professor David Metcalf, the migration advisory group chairman, said the government had decided that social workers would be on the list for a transitional period while his committee reviewed the evidence of a shortage.
"This evidence was not submitted in time for our first report. We will continue to review any evidence and update the list if necessary."
Heather Wakefield, of Unison, the public sector union, said that ministers should make sure that their "tough stance" on migration did not harm vulnerable people.
"The social care sector would collapse without highly skilled migrant workers who keep care homes, homecare services and social work teams running."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

Society: Immigration and public services | guardian.co.uk

Asylum-seeker charities are just playing the system, says Woolas
(Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:04:11 GMT)
Immigration minister Phil Woolas has attacked lawyers and charities working on behalf of asylum seekers, accusing them of undermining the law and "playing the system". In an interview with the Guardian, Woolas described the legal professionals and NGO workers as "an industry", and said most asylum seekers were not fleeing persecution but were economic migrants.
"The system is played by migration lawyers and NGOs to the nth degree," Woolas said. "By giving false hope and by undermining the legal system, [they] actually cause more harm than they do good."
It is the latest in a series of controversial public interventions by Woolas since he was appointed immigration minister by Gordon Brown in the October reshuffle.
Immigration lawyers said Woolas's comments were "absolutely extraordinary".
Sophie Brown, chair of the Immigration Law Practitioners Association (Ilpa), said: "Lawyers can only work with the law. To say they are undermining the law is an extraordinary comment to make."
Woolas described how his outspoken remarks had triggered accusations he was the new Enoch Powell, an attack he rejects. "Enoch Powell was trying to divide this country. I'm trying to heal this country by allowing us to have a mature debate on immigration," he said.
In one case, Woolas said, an asylum seeker had won the right to stay after going through six layers of appeal. "That person has no right to be in this country but I'm sure that there is an industry out there [with] a vested interest."
He concedes there are some harrowing, genuine cases of people fleeing persecution, which he claims are undermined by economic migrants. He recounted how another asylum seeker visited his constituency office in Oldham: "One lady showed me the scars on her thighs from where the soldiers had raped her, so I know," said Woolas, "but I cannot take a decision on that lady's behalf if I am fogged by cases that are misusing the law."
Donna Covey, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said the appeals process was a vital safety net for asylum seekers who are "criminalised" on arriving in Britain. "Having your asylum claim rejected does not make you an economic migrant. For some nationalities, such as Eritreans and Somalis, almost half of refused asylum seekers have their cases upheld on appeal. These are people who would be in danger of persecution such as murder, torture or rape if sent back to the repressive regimes they are fleeing."
Woolas has raised the rhetoric at a time when the asylum issue has substantially diminished. At the peak there were more than 76,000 applications a year, in 2000; last year there were fewer than 24,000.
Woolas told the Guardian the "primary purpose" of immigration policy was to reassure the public that the government was in control of immigration. "The public recognise that we don't know the exact numbers. They see the asylum backlog and what they fear is that we don't have any control over the system," he said.
He argued he was not pandering to the far right by raising concerns about asylum seekers. "You can only stop it being seen as a problem when you can convince the public you're in control of it."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Patrick Barkham on Phil Woolas's immigration stance: 'You can't come in'
(Tue, 18 Nov 2008 00:05:42 GMT)

Phil Woolas points to a framed photograph on his office wall. "There's me pictured with God." Taken when the immigration minister was an aspiring MP, the photograph shows Woolas with huge glasses and a beatific grin as he stands beside the object of his worship. Not Tony Blair or Gordon Brown, but Manchester United's French-born striker Eric Cantona. The story behind the picture says an awful lot about the Labour MP for Oldham East and Saddleworth, and not just that football is his favourite escape from politics.
It was taken at United's training ground a week before Woolas sailed into parliament in 1997. "Sir Alex [Ferguson] organised a photocall to help me with my election. It's the only time in my life I've been speechless." He still sounds chuffed. Cantona's signed shirt later fetched £17,500 at a charity auction when it was bought by Piers Morgan, then Daily Mirror editor. Woolas, a tough, clever former trade union spin doctor who learned at the elbow of Peter Mandelson, delights in recalling how he "pushed up" Morgan by getting a rich friend in the audience to bid up to £10,000. Most importantly of all, he says, the picture of him meeting Cantona and Ryan Giggs "got in the Oldham Evening Chronicle just before the general election".
If it was Cantona who won it in 1997, he also looms large in the minister's new job. Sitting on a cream sofa in the Home Office headquarters, Woolas admits that such talented foreign players have enriched the Premier League. Days after his promotion to the immigration brief last month, however, Woolas attracted the opprobrium of both the right and the left for appearing to advocate a cap on migrants. The government, he promised, would not allow Britain's population (currently 61 million) to rise above 70 million. News stories now carry the prefix "gaffe-prone" next to his name and it was reported his anxious boss, the home secretaryJacqui Smith, withdrew him from Question Time.
Woolas says he has already been accused of being "the new Enoch Powell" but explains that he is determined to smash the perception that politicians are out of touch with real people. "Letting people know that you understand in this modern world is as important as what policy you pursue," he says. "As immigration is the second biggest issue in communities, we have to bloody well talk about it."
For a start, Woolas, who eagerly flashes his Manchester United season ticket at me, is responsible for football-related visas. A partisan Red, he takes boyish enjoyment in the fact he revoked the visa of Thaksin Shinawatra, the ousted Thai prime minister and former owner of United's deadly rivals Manchester City. "Nothing to do with football, I promise you," he chuckles. "The briefing ... didn't mention the fact that he was the ex-Man City chairman - it just quite rightly said he has been charged with fraud and he's not a desirable person - but it occurred to me, of course."
As in wider society, it is claimed in football that foreign migrants have put British workers out of a job: for example, plenty of United's homegrown youth stars have been forced to look elsewhere for first-team football. Woolas agrees with the controversial Labour soundbite of British jobs for British workers. So would he support a restriction on foreign players in the Premier League? "No," he says. "You don't want to do it because you don't want to restrict people's enjoyment, and football has got better [from the influx of foreign players]." He accepts that "there is an element of double standards" in restricting other workers - as the government's points-based visa system does. He argues, however, that foreigners, as well as black British players, have not only made the Premier League more exciting but have helped "break down racial stereotyping".
Woolas grew up in Worsthorne, just outside Burnley. His village was the first ward to elect a BNP councillor. He went to school in nearby Nelson and joined Labour "because of racial tension", he says. "For me this journey started in Nelson in 1976. Coming here," he thrusts an arm across his large office, "is a vindication for me of what I've been saying for a number of years. I hope that doesn't sound arrogant but that's what I feel. It's not a coincidence, I think, that Gordon has asked me to do the job. He knew my views, he knew I'd be outspoken."
He has made a career out of it. As communities minister, he called for the sacking of Aishah Azmi, a Muslim teaching assistant who eventually lost her discrimination case over wearing the niqab at work. He was slapped down by the prime minister's official spokesman after fuelling tabloid headlines by claiming that inbreeding was causing birth defects in the Pakistani community. He even attracted populist headlines as climate change minister when he said it was morally unacceptable to drink bottled water.
He is clutching a Fairtrade coffee today, but his fondness for sending the political compass spinning in unpredictable directions has not deserted him. David Cameron "is a man of integrity", he declares, before taking a more familiar tack: "He's completely and utterly out of his depth."
Outspokenness is one attribute he says he hopes that people will remember him for. "It's very important in politics that the public see politicians being real people, and you just have to accept in a 24/7 world that your words are going to be used against you and misinterpreted and twisted." He leans forward. "What's important is that we're real. You can hide behind your desk and not say anything or you can get out there and get your hands dirty. That's particularly true on immigration."
Woolas talks a lot about getting his hands dirty. His critics say his rhetoric and tactics have often descended into the gutter. He first contested his supposedly unwinnable constituency in a 1995 byelection and was narrowly defeated by the Lib Dems. Unusually unforgiving in victory, Paddy Ashdown claimed that some Labour...
Ireland sets test for new citizens
(Fri, 14 Nov 2008 12:53:42 GMT)
Until just over a decade ago the Republic of Ireland was one of the most culturally and racially homogeneous societies on Earth.
Yet in a relatively short time a nation that was once almost entirely white and more than 95% Catholic has been radically and rapidly transformed into a multicultural society.
According to the latest figures from the Republic's Central Statistics Office, around 18% of Ireland's population are non-nationals, the majority of them from eastern Europe, China and west Africa. This also includes a large proportion of Britons who have settled on the island.
Irish academics who study the new immigration patterns, such as University College Dublin sociologist Dr Bryan Fanning, believe the official figures underestimate the numbers. Despite the credit crunch and economic downturn, Fanning estimates that the proportion of non-Irish nationals in the population could be over 20%.
The challenges raised by this immigration prompted the gov