Persuading parties that Black Lives Matter

OPINION 

LISBURN town council has voted that it “stands with Black Lives Matter”, but only after a UUP (Ulster Unionist Party) amended removed mention of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Racism and Sectarianism one of the fundamental problems in the North of Ireland. Protestants/Unionists have always regarded the Catholic community as second class citizens

This is a triumph of the peace politics  – higher standards will require a fundamental rethink. Among DUP objections to the original motion, proposed by the Alliance Party, were that Black Lives Matter is “anti-family” and “far left”. Abortion was also mentioned. Armagh, Banbridge and Craigavon Council had a debate along similar lines. A half-forgotten but suddenly pertinent detail of recent history is that ‘identity politics’, for want of a better term, was imported into the North of Ireland from the early 1980s by unionist thinkers, for want of a better term. Their intention was to modernise our politics along American lines, with themselves as the religious right, or at least the conservative right. The notion continues tripping unionists up to this day, including those barely aware they subscribe to it.

With many thanks to: The Irish News and Newton Emerson for his opinion on ‘Black Lives Matter’ for the original posting.

Follow these links to find out more: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racism

(2)-: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/race%20prejudice

(3)-: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sectarianism

The System Is The Problem

This letter appeared in The Irish News today Thursday June 25th 2020

THE killing of George Floyd is tearing apart the farcical myth of ‘land of the free”, of the land ‘of tolerance’ built supposedly by free, loving and equal migrants.

END RACISM – BLACK LIVES MATTER

Despite the restrictions people locally and around the world taking to the streets have every right to be angry. This is not about George Floyd. It is about more than 200 years of oppression and savagery. Those who demand that protest remains “civic” and harmless, deploring “vandalism” in far more strident terms than they deplore racism, are nothing but hypocritical defenders of the status quo. The real vandals are those who think that carrying a blue uniform gives them a right to maim and torture at will. The system is the problem, not this or that police officer, not this or that president, not this or that party.

It requires deep transformation of the political institutions which are the product of legacy and brutality, segregation, exclusion, war, militarism, invasion and imperialism. The people on the streets today have the answers, while our ruling elites don’t even know the questions.

With many thanks to: The Irish News and Sean Matthews, Crumlin, Co Antrim for the original story 

Tory goverment plans to deport millions of British Jamacian British citizens because of Brexit

The Windrush generation began arriving in the UK in 1948.

Some “terrible mistakes” were made in cases involving the Windrush generation facing deportation from the UK, says immigration minister Caroline Nokes.

Many long-term immigrants who arrived from the Commonwealth as children have been told they are here illegally.

The BBC understands Home Secretary Amber Rudd plans to set up a team in the Home Office to help those affected.

It follows a reversal by the prime minister, who will now discuss the issue with other Commonwealth leaders.

A meeting of leaders, which will take place this week, was announced amid growing calls for Theresa May to take action, including a letter from a cross-party group of 140 MPs.

Labour MP David Lammy tweeted that the meeting was a “small U-turn”, adding that he wanted the government to “guarantee the status of all the Windrush children caught up in this crisis” by the end of the day

“My hole life sunk to my feet” Windrush migrant Michrael Braithwaite

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn tweeted it was “disgraceful” that the rights of the Windrush generation had been brought into question, calling on Mrs May to “answer serious questions about how this happened on her watch”.

Mrs May’s spokesman said the prime minister was clear that “no-one with the right to be here will be made to leave”.

He added that the PM is “aware that many people are unlikely to have documents that are over 40 years old”.

London mayor Sadiq Khan said he welcomed Mrs May’s decision to meet with other leaders, but added: “She must now go further and make an immediate commitment to recognise and secure the rights of Commonwealth citizens.”

Skip Twitter post by @DavidLammy

David Lammy

✔@DavidLammy

My parents arrived in this country from Guyana and I stand in Parliament as a proud son of the Windrush. Thank you to 140 colleagues including @jeremycorbyn @HackneyAbbott @AngelaRayner @YvetteCooperMP @ChukaUmunna @DawnButlerBrent for joining me in writing to @theresa_may today

Report

End of Twitter post by @DavidLammy

Thousands of prople arrived in the UK as children in the first wave of Commonwealth immigration 70 years ago.

They are known as the Windrush generation – a reference to the ship, the Empire Windrush, which brought workers from the West Indies to Britain in 1948.

Under the 1971 Immigration Act, all Commonwealth citizens already living in the UK were given indefinite leave to remain – but the right to free movement between Commonwealth nations was ended from that date onwards.

However, the Home Office did not keep a record of those granted leave to remain or issue any paperwork confirming it, meaning it is difficult for the individuals to now prove they are in the UK legally.

The BBC understands that Home Secretary Ms Rudd will make a statement to the House of Commons on Monday afternoon to confirm the creation of a new team in her department to help the Windrush generation and ensure no-one loses their access to public services and entitlements.

She is also expected to waive fees so that those affected will not have to pay money for new documents to prove their status.

Mr Lammy has also tweeted that he has secured an urgent question in the Commons on Monday to push Ms Rudd for answers.

‘No question of right to remain’

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s World at One, Ms Nokes said the Windrush generation had “contributed an enormous amount to our community [and] to our society” and that the government had “an absolute responsibility to make sure there are no more of these mistakes”.

Asked by ITV News if any people had been deported as a result of these “mistakes”, Ms Nokes said: “There have been some horrendous situations, which as a minister have appalled me.”

Told by the reporter “that’s a yes” and asked how many, she said: “No, I don’t know the numbers, but what I’m determined to do going forward is we’ll have no more of this.”

Penny Mordaunt, the international development secretary, said she wanted to reassure those affected, telling BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “People who are in that situation, there is absolutely no question of their right to remain, and their right to gain access to services such as healthcare.”

A letter to the prime minister, co-ordinated by Mr Lammy, called for a “swift resolution of this growing crisis”.

It said: “We urge you to guarantee the status of all Commonwealth nationals whose right to remain is protected by law and to provide an effective, humane route to the clarification of their status.

“What is going on is grotesque, immoral and inhumane,” he said.

It was signed by 140 MPs including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston.

‘Not welcome’ in UK

Omar Khan, from the Runnymede Trust charity which has been involved in trying to tackle this issue, said the onus should be on the Home Office to help people find the documents they need.

He also called for an extension of legal aid to these cases.

He told the BBC’s Victoria Derbyshire programme: “These are individuals who do have legal rights – this is not really an amnesty. The issue is their ability to prove it through documentation is now quite difficult.”

Guy Hewitt, Barbados high commissioner, told the BBC: “I have held as a great honour the fact that I am the first London-born high commissioner for Barbados.

“This is the first time I have felt that the country of my birth is saying to people of my region ‘you are no longer welcome’.”

The Migration Observatory at Oxford University estimates there are 500,000 people resident in the UK who were born in a Commonwealth country and arrived before 1971.

People born in Jamaica and other Caribbean countries are thought to be more affected than those from other Commonwealth nations, as they were more likely to arrive on their parent’s passports without their own ID documents.

The Empire Windrush arriving at Tilbury Docks with 482 Jamaicans on board

Many have never applied for a passport in their own name or had their immigration status formalised, as they regarded themselves as British.

The Guardian newspaper has highlighted a number of cases of such people being threatened with deportation.

With many thanks to: BBC England for the origional story.