radiofree.asia

Category: UK news

  • MI5 concedes it ‘unlawfully’ obtained data from former BBC journalist

    Revelation relating to then Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent, Vincent Kearney, a ‘matter of grave concern’

    MI5 has conceded it “unlawfully” obtained the communications data of a former BBC journalist, in what was claimed to be an unprecedented admission from the security services.

    The BBC said it was a “matter of grave concern” that the agency had obtained communications data from the mobile phone of Vincent Kearney, a former BBC Northern Ireland home affairs correspondent.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK politics: No 10 says Starmer found Mandelson’s emails to Epstein ‘reprehensible’ – as it happened

    Despite being repeatedly asked, No 10 declines to say the PM was ‘misled’ by Mandelson

    Stephen Doughty, a Foreign Office minister, is responding to the UQ about Peter Mandelson.

    He starts by making the point that it is the anniversary of the “despicable” 9/11 terrorism attacks.

    Keir Starmer must sack Peter Mandelson without further delay – and come clean about what he knew when, and whether he sanctioned blocking the publication of damaging material.

    UK government documents shouldn’t be hidden from the public just because they are damaging to the Labour party – and by backing Peter Mandelson to the hilt, the prime minister’s own reputation is now on the line.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Pro-Palestine activists call for arrest of Israeli president during UK visit

    Campaign group accuses Isaac Herzog, arriving in UK next week, of aiding and abetting indiscriminate killing in Gaza

    Pro-Palestine activists have requested that an arrest warrant be issued against Israeli President Isaac Herzog for alleged war crimes ahead of his arrival in the UK this week.

    Herzog is accused of aiding and abetting the indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza in the request to the director of public prosecutions filed by the Friends of Al-Aqsa campaign group.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK has ‘not concluded’ Israel carrying out genocide in Gaza, Lammy says

    Government position set out in letter to select committee as No 10 prepares for visit by Israeli president

    The UK has not concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, nor that any of the British-made parts for F-35 jets sold to Israel have directly led to breaches of international humanitarian law, ministers have told parliament.

    Ministers have also rejected calls for an independent audit of UK arms sales, but admitted they were not in a position to say if Israel’s assault in Gaza had led to any breaches of humanitarian law owing to the complexity of the fighting terrain.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Palestinians to ask UK to own up to ‘law violations’ between 1917 and 1948

    Petition, drafted by human rights lawyers, says war crimes were committed during British occupation of Palestine

    A group of Palestinians will serve a legal petition asking the UK to take responsibility for what they call “serial international law violations”, including war crimes committed during the British occupation of Palestine from 1917 to 1948, the consequences of which it says still reverberate today.

    The 400-plus page document, drafted by human rights KCs, details “incontrovertible evidence” of the UK’s unlawful legacy.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK exit from ECHR ‘would remove foundations of Good Friday agreement’

    Peace deal cannot be ‘negotiated away’ by British political figures who want to quit ECHR, says Irish deputy PM

    Northern Ireland’s peace deal cannot be “negotiated away” by British political figures who want to see the UK quit the European Convention of Human Rights if elected, the Irish tánaiste has warned.

    The ECHR is an integral part of the 1998 Belfast Good Friday agreement and withdrawal would remove those foundations of peace, according to Simon Harris, Ireland’s deputy prime minister.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Farage a ‘Putin-loving, free speech impostor’ says Democrat before Reform head’s US speech – UK politics as it happened

    Jamie Raskin says Farage is ‘a Trump sycophant’ before UK politician addresses the House judiciary committee in Washington

    Kemi Badenoch is probably hastily redrafting her PMQs script in the light of Angela Rayner’s statement about underpaying her stamp duty. She has got less than half an hour to craft the right questions. And she will probably want to ask about the economy, and hate speech laws, too.

    Here is the list of MPs down to ask a question.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Home secretary suspends refugee family reunion applications until new, tighter rules are put in place – as it happened

    Yvette Cooper says rules were designed years ago to help families separated by war but are being used in a different way now

    And while we are talking about Blair-era Labour aides, Peter Hyman, who wrote speeches for Tony Blair and later worked for Keir Starmer in the run-up to the general election, has launched a new Substack blog. It is called Changing the Story, which tells you quite a lot about what he thinks is going wrong with No 10. Here is an extract from his first post.

    Starmer is an ‘opportunity’ prime minister forced to become a ‘security’ one. And that’s why the government’s narrative is seen by some to be elusive.

    Let me explain.

    I remember well Tim Allan’s leaving drinks at Number 10 in the earlyish Blair era. In his fulsome farewell speech Tony Blair noted only half jokingly “Tim’s even more right wing than me..”

    The same Tim Allan who as head of Portland had a contract to polish Vladimir Putin’s reputation?

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Ministers delay planning decision on Chinese ‘super-embassy’ in London

    Date pushed back to October amid concerns over redacted drawings in plans for 20,000-sq-metre complex

    Ministers have delayed a decision on whether to grant planning permission to a proposed Chinese “super-embassy” in London amid concerns about redacted drawings in the building’s plans.

    The deputy prime minister, Angela Rayner, was due to make a decision on 9 September but has pushed this back to 21 October, saying more time is needed to consider the plans for the development, which would occupy a sprawling 20,000 sq metres (5 acres) at Royal Mint Court in east London.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Met police’s facial recognition plans fall foul of European law, says watchdog

    Use of cameras at Notting Hill carnival could have ‘chilling effect’ on people’s rights, says equality regulator

    Scotland Yard’s plan to widen the use of live facial recognition technology is unlawful because it is incompatible with European laws, the equalities regulator has claimed.

    As the UK’s biggest force prepares to use instant face-matching cameras at this weekend’s Notting Hill carnival, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said its use was intrusive and could have a “chilling effect” on individuals’ rights.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Far-right anger over asylum hotels is destroying the very idea of refuge – and that’s probably the goal | Zoe Williams

    The court ruling on the Bell hotel does not just legitimise anti-immigrant sentiment; it also risks erasing a whole category of people

    When the high court ruled this week that the Bell hotel in Epping could no longer be used to house asylum seekers, the triumph of anti-migrant zealots looked a little unwarranted, or at least premature. Nigel Farage hoped loudly that the ruling would provide “inspiration to others across the country”. Tabloids and GB News called it an all-caps VICTORY, while Epping locals popped champagne on the hotel’s doorstep.

    Meanwhile, the ruling itself felt impermanent and technical more than principled. The judge ruled that Somani, the company that owns the Bell, had not notified the council of its intended use; it was hardly an endorsement of the general proposition, memorably spelled out by Robert Jenrick recently, that “men from backward countries who broke into Britain illegally” pose an active threat to his daughters. And while the victory calls were resounding, there was no answering message of defeat from those who support asylum seekers – nobody thinks hotels are a sound and humane way to accommodate refugees. Liminal, often squalid, eye-wateringly expensive for the Home Office, they hardly scream “welcome”.

    Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

    Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Hong Kong activist Tony Chung says he has been granted asylum in the UK

    Chung, one of youngest people to get jail sentence under security law, posts Home Office letter agreeing he has ‘well-founded fear of persecution’

    The Hong Kong independence activist Tony Chung says he has been granted asylum in the UK, two years after fleeing the Chinese region.

    Chung, 24, revealed the news on his Instagram page on Sunday, the day after the former Hong Kong legislator Ted Hui said he had been granted asylum in Australia. Both Chung and Hui are among dozens of pro-democracy activists targeted with arrest warrants and 1m Hong Kong dollar bounties by authorities.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Jack Straw urges Labour not to panic about threat of Nigel Farage

    Former home secretary praises Keir Starmer’s success on world stage and says PM can win over sceptical UK public

    Keir Starmer and his ministers must not “panic” about the threat of Nigel Farage, the former home secretary Jack Straw has said, adding that the prime minister had impressed on the world stage and should show more of that side of himself at home.

    In an interview with the Guardian, he praised Starmer’s intention to recognise a Palestinian state after an ultimatum to Israel – but defended the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, saying he would also have proscribed the direct action group Palestine Action.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘I’m proud to have made this stand’: over-60s arrested at Palestine Action ban protest explain their decision

    From a retired British colonel to a Catholic priest, half of the 532 people arrested in Parliament Square were 60 or older. Many believe they had a greater share of responsibility to take in defending the right to free speech

    In recent weeks, hundreds of people have been arrested for taking part in demonstrations organised by the campaign group Defend Our Juries. Their alleged crime is calling for an end to the ban against Palestine Action, which has been proscribed as a terrorist organisation by Yvette Cooper, the home secretary.

    One striking detail among those detained is their age. Half of those arrested at the largest protest yet, in Parliament Square in London on Saturday, were 60 or older. Some said they had taken part to give a voice to younger people who have more to lose by breaking the law, some simply felt they must challenge the government’s stance.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK rights watchdog warns against ‘heavy-handed’ policing of Gaza protests

    EHRC calls for clearer guidance for officers to avoid a ‘chilling effect’ on freedom of expression

    The UK’s official human rights watchdog has written to ministers and police expressing concern at a potentially “heavy-handed” approach to protests about Gaza and urging clearer guidance for officers in enforcing the law.

    In the letter to Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, and Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan police, the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) said the perception that peaceful protest could attract disproportionate police attention “undermines confidence in our human rights protections”.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Palestine Action prosecutions should be suspended, say UK rights groups

    Campaigners tell attorney general that proceeding with trials before judicial review raises legal and moral questions

    Protesters arrested for supporting Palestine Action should not be prosecuted until a legal challenge to a ban on the group has been heard, organisations including Greenpeace and Human Rights Watch have told the attorney general for England and Wales.

    In a letter to Richard Hermer KC, also signed by Friends of the Earth, Global Witness and the Quakers, they say proceeding with charges or trials before the judicial review, which is expected to be heard in November, would raise significant legal and moral questions.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Trump administration accuses UK of failing to uphold human rights

    US state department says Labour government ‘repeatedly intervened to chill speech’ online after Southport attack

    The Trump administration has accused the UK of backsliding on human rights over the past year, citing antisemitic violence and “serious restrictions” on free speech.

    The annual US state department assessment, which analyses human rights conditions worldwide, highlighted laws limiting speech around abortion clinics, as well as the way government officials “repeatedly intervened to chill speech” online after the 2024 Southport attack.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • NGOs urge Nandy to halt sale of Telegraph over China links

    Letter from rights groups says RedBird Capital’s proposed takeover threatens media pluralism and transparency

    A group of nine human rights and freedom of expression organisations have called on the culture secretary to halt RedBird Capital’s proposed £500m takeover of the Telegraph and investigate the US private equity company’s ties to China.

    The international non-governmental organisations, which include Index on Censorship, Reporters Without Borders and Article 19, have written to Lisa Nandy arguing that RedBird Capital’s links with China “threaten media pluralism, transparency and information integrity in the UK”.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Conservatives not close to recognising ‘how badly placed they are’, says Gauke

    Former minister says Tories are ignoring heartland voters and risk losing ground to Reform in next election

    The Conservatives are “not close to recognising” how badly they are positioned for the next election, the former cabinet minister David Gauke has said.

    Gauke, a former justice secretary who also worked in the Treasury under George Osborne, said many in the party were not willing to fully repudiate Liz Truss and Boris Johnson.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • ‘Gross abuse of state power’: defiance grows over UK ban on Palestine protest group

    More than 200 have been arrested for alleged support of Palestine Action – and hundreds more are expected to protest on Saturday

    At 81, Deborah Hinton, a former British magistrate who was honoured by the late Queen Elizabeth II for services to the community, seems an unlikely terrorist suspect. In the quiet town in south-west England where she lives, much of her retirement is spent walking along the cliffs, raising funds for the nearby cathedral choir, and supporting local charities.

    But last month she was detained in a police cell for seven hours, fingerprinted and had a DNA swab taken from her mouth. It was the first time she had ever been arrested, and the experience left her “in a state of trauma” and “shaking uncontrollably”. She could face a jail sentence of six months under UK terrorism legislation.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Starmer v Starmer: why is the former human rights lawyer so cautious about defending human rights?

    Many of his supporters hoped the Prime Minister would restore the UK’s commitment to international law. Yet Labour’s record over the past year has been curiously mixed

    The international human rights system – the rules, principles and practices intended to ensure that states do not abuse people – is under greater threat now than at any other point since 1945. Fortunately, we in the UK couldn’t wish for a better-qualified prime minister to face this challenge. Keir Starmer is a distinguished former human rights lawyer and prosecutor, with a 30-year career behind him, who expresses a deep personal commitment to defending ordinary people against injustice. He knows human rights law inside out – in fact, he literally wrote the book on its European incarnation – and has acted as a lawyer at more or less every level of the system. (Starmer is the only British prime minister, and probably the only world leader, to have argued a case under the genocide convention – against Serbia on behalf of Croatia in 2014 – at the international court of justice.) He is also an experienced administrator, through his time as director of public prosecutions (DPP), which means he knows how to operate the machinery of state better than most politicians do.

    Unfortunately, there’s someone standing in Starmer’s way: a powerful man who critics say is helping to weaken the international human rights system. He fawns over authoritarian demagogues abroad and is seeking to diminish the protections the UK offers to some vulnerable minorities. He conflates peaceful, if disruptive, protest with deadly terrorism and calls for musicians whose views and language he dislikes to be dropped from festival bills. At times, he uses his public platform to criticise courts, whose independence is vital to maintaining the human rights system. At others, he uses legal sophistry to avoid openly stating and defending his own political position, including on matters of life and death. He is, even some of his admirers admit, a ruthless careerist prepared to jettison his stated principles when politically expedient. That person is also called Keir Starmer.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK ban on Palestine Action at odds with international law, says UN rights chief

    Volker Türk says the Home Office proscription restricts right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly

    The UK government’s ban on Palestine Action limits the rights and freedoms of people in the UK and is at odds with international law, the UN human rights chief has said.

    Volker Türk, the UN human rights commissioner, said ministers’ decision to designate the group a terrorist organisation was “disproportionate and unnecessary” and called on them to rescind it.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • The Guardian view on starvation in Gaza: it will take more than words to halt Israel’s genocide | Editorial

    Condemnation is rightly growing. But until concrete action is taken, western allies will remain complicit with these horrifying crimes

    July has been one of the deadliest months of the war in Gaza, with Israel killing one person every 12 minutes. The UN says more than 1,000 Palestinians have died trying to get food, mostly when they attempted to collect aid from hubs.

    Behind these visible deaths lies the horror of systematic starvation: “minutely engineered, closely monitored, precisely designed”, in the words of Prof Alex de Waal, an expert on humanitarian crises. More than 100 aid groups warned that it is spreading fast. At least 10 people died of hunger and malnutrition on Tuesday alone, said Gaza’s health ministry. Parents watch their children wither. Adults collapse on the street.

    Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Genocide prevention could become legal priority for UK government

    Cross-party group of lawyers, politicians and academics considers mechanism to prevent crimes against humanity

    Clearer legal obligations on the British government to prevent genocides, and to determine if one is occurring rather than leaving such judgments to international courts, are to be considered by a cross-party group of lawyers, politicians and academics under the chairmanship of Helena Kennedy.

    The new group, known as the standing group on atrocity crimes, says its genesis does not derive from a specific conflict such as Gaza or Xinjiang, but a wider concern that such crime is spreading as international law loses its purchase.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • UK universities have failed to protect gender-critical academics, report finds

    Report’s author raises ‘stark concerns about barriers to academic freedom’

    UK universities have failed to protect gender-critical academics from bullying and career-threatening restrictions on their research, according to a report.

    The report, by Prof Alice Sullivan of University College London, recommends that students and staff “taking part in freedom-restricting harassment should face consequences commensurate with the seriousness of the offence”.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Pressure grows on Yvette Cooper to abandon plans to ban Palestine Action

    UN experts and hundreds of lawyers warn that proscribing group would conflate protest and terrorism

    The home secretary is coming under increasing pressure to abandon plans to ban Palestine Action, as UN experts and hundreds of lawyers warned that proscribing the group would conflate protest and terrorism.

    In two separate letters to Yvette Cooper, the Network for Police Monitoring (Netpol) lawyers’ group and the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers said that proscribing the group would set a dangerous precedent.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Goldsmiths apologises to Jewish students and staff over ‘culture’ of antisemitism

    Inquiry concludes college’s management failed to help Jewish students ‘feel welcome and safe from antisemitism’

    Goldsmiths College in London has apologised to Jewish students and staff after an independent inquiry found it had allowed a “culture” of antisemitism to build up on its campus over a number of years.

    The inquiry concluded that Jewish students were subjected to antisemitism during their studies at Goldsmiths and that the college’s management failed to help Jewish students and potential applicants to “feel welcome, included and safe from antisemitism”.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Co-op to stop sourcing goods from Israel, Iran and 15 other countries

    Retailer says ‘internationally recognised’ abuses take place in nations including Russia and Syria

    The Co-op is to stop sourcing goods from Israel, Iran and 15 other countries where it says there are “internationally recognised” rights abuses and violations of international law.

    The mutual, which operates about 2,300 grocery stores in the UK, has drawn up a list of about 100 products affected by the change, including Israeli carrots and mangos from Mali.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • English universities barred from enforcing blanket bans on student protests

    Office for Students guidance urges ‘very strong’ approach to permitting lawful speech on campus

    Universities in England will no longer be able to enforce blanket bans on student protests under sweeping new guidance that urges a “very strong” approach to permitting lawful speech on campus.

    The detailed regulations set out for the first time how universities should deal with inflammatory disputes, such as those between the University of Cambridge and students over the war in Gaza, and rows over academics who hold controversial but legal opinions, such as the gender-critical professor Kathleen Stock.

    The guidance issued by the Office for Students (OfS) will make it harder for universities to penalise students and staff for anything other than unlawful speech or harassment.

    Academics should not be pressed to support particular views.

    Protests should not be restricted for supporting legal viewpoints.

    Students or staff should not be “encouraged to report others” for lawful speech.

    Universities must “secure freedom of speech” for visiting speakers.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.

  • Echoes of Brexit as Starmer is pressed to seize initiative on human rights | Jessica Elgot

    Labour MPs fighting Reform want action and a European renegotiation looks unappealing. How would the PM sell a third way?

    Can a lefty human rights lawyer be the one to take on Britain’s uneasy relationship with the European convention on human rights (ECHR)?

    It is the most unlikely of causes for Keir Starmer. But there is a growing feeling in government that he should seize the initiative.

    Continue reading…

    This post was originally published on Human rights | The Guardian.