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Category: UK news

  • My sister is on hunger strike to free her son Alaa Abd el-Fattah from jail in Egypt. We don’t want her to die | Ahdaf Soueif

    The British-Egyptian activist is imprisoned alongside thousands of other political detainees. We’re appealing to the UK government for help

    My sister is 68, and today is her 60th day on hunger strike. This is her latest battle against injustice, and she knows it may be her last.

    Laila is fighting for the freedom of her son: Alaa Abd el-Fattah, the British-Egyptian writer, software developer and democracy activist who is Egypt’s most high-profile political prisoner. Alaa has served two five-year prison sentences. The first for participating in a 15-minute silent protest, the second for reposting a Facebook post about a prisoner who had died in prison.

    Ahdaf Soueif is the author of Mezzaterra: Fragments from the Common Ground

    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.

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

  • From Egypt to India, five jailed men who feel abandoned by Britain

    A media mogul, a computer programmer, a developer, a trade unionist, and a Sikh activist – the prisoners arbitrarily detained abroad

    The cases of five British men, held for years without a fair trial, are being highlighted as MPs, families, and campaigners fight for their release and better help for all those arbitrarily detained abroad. Who are the five, and what has happened to them?

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  • Labour left urges Starmer to speak up for human rights on Saudi Arabia trip

    Party figures have voiced concerns that next month’s visit will be dominated by the PM seeking investment

    Keir Starmer is being urged to speak up for human rights and push for cooperation over a Middle East peace deal when he travels to Saudi Arabia next month, amid concerns on Labour’s left that his efforts to attract investment will dominate the trip.

    The prime minister’s visit is seen as his latest attempt to secure the inward investment necessary for the economic growth that is the central aim of his government. It is expected that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, will also visit London next year.

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

  • ‘One conversation really changed my mind’: the personal stories driving MPs’ decisions on assisted dying

    Traditional allies such as Diane Abbott and John McDonnell are split over Friday’s vote as politicians grapple with the issue

    During a Labour away day ahead of the last election, the party’s candidates were put through their paces as parliamentary debaters. The topic chosen, assisted dying, was a deliberately intractable issue designed to test their analytical skills. Yet just months later, scores of new MPs find themselves having to make a very real decision over changing the law.

    “I’m genuinely the most back and forth on this that I’ve been on anything,” said one new MP who has found themselves on either side of the debate over recent months. Like so many, with the issues so finely balanced in their mind, a single conversation can sway their thinking.

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

  • Racial abuse, physical assaults and no beds: asylum seekers tell of brutal conditions at Manston migrant centre

    Asylum seekers who fled to UK to escape persecution said they endured abuse and squalor at centre in Kent

    When David Neal, the former independent chief inspector of borders and immigration, visited the Manston asylum processing centre in Kent at the height of the crisis in October 2022, he said the conditions he found there were so alarming it left him “speechless”.

    People were crammed on the dirty floors of marquees to sleep, toilets overflowed with faeces, there was inadequate access to medical care and new arrivals were referred to by a number on a wristband rather than by their name.

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

  • Human rights activists face reprisals for opposing extractive industries, says report

    Peace Brigades International calling for new act to force companies with links to UK to do due diligence

    Human rights defenders have faced brutal reprisals for standing up to extractive industries with links to UK companies or investors, according to a report calling for a law obliging firms to do human rights and environmental due diligence.

    Peace Brigades International (PBI) UK says a corporate accountability law requiring businesses to do due diligence on their operations, investments and supply chains could have prevented past environmental devastation and attacks.

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

  • Assisted dying: what are the ‘slippery slope’ fears in England and Wales?

    Lawyers disagree on whether law is likely to be expanded to include people who are not terminally ill

    One of the arguments that has come to the fore in the debate surrounding whether assisted dying should be legalised in England and Wales is the “slippery slope” theory – that even if the legislation contains watertight qualifying criteria and safeguards, the law will inevitably be expanded in time and the restrictions loosened. Here is an explanation of why lawyers disagree about the likelihood of this happening.

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

  • Open registers are only way to stop dirty money that underpins crime | Margaret Hodge and Andrew Mitchell

    We know too well that overseas territories and crown dependencies play a pivotal role in helping crooks and tax dodgers

    This week, UK ministers and political leaders from Britain’s overseas territories will come together at the joint ministerial council. This summit is intended to build a united strategy for our partnership with the overseas territories, built on shared democratic values and respect for human rights.

    But this partnership also comes with the obligation to adhere to certain standards. For those campaigning to eradicate money laundering and fraud from the UK’s economy, that involves tearing down secrecy and promoting full corporate transparency and robust accountability through publicly accessible registers of beneficial ownership.

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

  • Tech firm Palantir spoke with MoJ about calculating prisoners’ ‘reoffending risks’

    Exclusive: Rights group expresses concerns as it emerges US spy tech company has been lobbying UK ministers

    The US spy tech company Palantir has been in talks with the Ministry of Justice about using its technology to calculate prisoners’ “reoffending risks”, it has emerged.

    The proposals emerged in correspondence released under the Freedom of Information Act which showed how the company has also been lobbying new UK government ministers, including the chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

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

  • Exiles ask King Charles to rescind honour awarded to king of Bahrain

    Buckingham Palace accused of ‘burying’ news of GCVO bestowed on King Hamad, whose regime is accused of torturing opponents

    King Charles has been asked by exiles from Bahrain to rescind an honour he bestowed this week on the ruler of the Gulf kingdom.

    Charles was told in a letter by the exiles: “It is personally difficult for us to view this honour as anything other than a betrayal of victims who have suffered at the hands of King Hamad and his brutal regime.”

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

  • UK equality watchdog chair at centre of staff complaints to be given new term

    Decision to reappoint Kishwer Falkner angers some staff at Equality and Human Rights Commission

    The chair of the government’s equality watchdog, who was appointed by Liz Truss and investigated after a series of complaints by staff members, has been given a 12-month extension in the role, ministers have announced.

    The decision to reappoint Kishwer Falkner as chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC), first revealed by the Guardian, has left some staff members angry after they had hoped a Labour government might change the organisation’s leadership.

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

  • Daily Mail publisher wins ECHR case against ‘success fees’ paid to lawyers

    Associated Newspapers argued it was ‘excessive’ for such fees to be added to the costs of people who had sued it

    The publisher of the Daily Mail has won a court battle after arguing that its human rights were breached by a requirement for it to pay “success fees” to lawyers representing people it had paid damages to.

    Associated Newspapers Ltd (ANL) complained to the European court of human rights that it was “excessive and unfair” for it to have to pay such fees to plaintiffs who have engaged lawyers to take cases on a no win, no fee agreement.

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

  • The IPP sentencing scandal has left hundreds locked up without hope. When will Labour free them? | Francisco Garcia

    England and Wales abolished these draconian sentences in 2012 – but our crumbling prisons still hold offenders trapped in horrifying stasis

    On a Thursday evening last June, I found myself standing in a packed room in the House of Commons. The space had been turned into a temporary art gallery showcasing work made by a selection of IPP prisoners – the acronym stands for imprisonment for public protection – who had spent years in prison beyond their sentences or remained there, under the terms of the long-abolished indeterminate sentence, which had by then collectively been agreed upon as a point of national disgrace. Much of the art was, unsurprisingly, darkly hued and themed, a mesh of heavy greys and nightmare landscapes.

    Donna Mooney – whose brother Tommy Nicol took his own life in prison in 2015, having lost hope of ever being released after serving two extra years over his four-year minimum tariff for a car robbery – had given a short, understated address. Words to the effect that the renewed interest in IPP was welcome, but there were still hundreds of people lingering in prisons across England and Wales. Her speech was greeted with the applause it deserved. I remember noting how impressively cool her performance was, and how hard won that control must have been.

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

  • ‘Make Britain vaguely civilised again’? Sounds great – but not the way this Tory MP would do it, thanks | Anne Perkins

    Neil O’Brien’s simplistic plan isn’t really about antisocial behaviour. It’s a litany of rightwing gripes aimed at human rights

    Some years ago, the Guardian introduced a feature, Dining across the divide, to show that it was still possible to disagree in a constructive manner. The idea was born at a time when it seemed politics was so polarised nothing could ever grow again on the ground between. Happily, it turns out there’s an appetite for common-ground stuff, illustrated not least by the ability of two middle-aged political podcasters determined to talk rationally to fill the O2 Arena, as Alastair Campbell and Rory Stewart did a fortnight ago.

    Working politicians are taking note. There’s a recognition that many voters don’t like being shouted at, or shouting at all. Take the lament that the Conservative MP Neil O’Brien posted on his Substack page a few days ago – reported by the BBC as a “plan to make Britain vaguely civilised again” – about the decline of orderliness on the streets of Britain. Here’s a surefire winner that’s bound to get everyone to agree. Not even the most effete liberal welcomes “people playing obnoxious music on public transport”, or the mass trip-hazard of abandoned ebikes and scooters on the pavement, or the kind of petty vandalism that makes so many city streets look neglected. He’s right that it’s unsettling and sometimes downright intimidating.

    Anne Perkins is a writer and broadcaster, and a former Guardian correspondent

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

  • Uyghur activist accuses Labour of failing to stand up to China

    Rahima Mahmut, in exile in the UK, ‘disappointed’ at failure to describe Beijing’s crackdown on minority as genocide

    A leading Uyghur activist has accused the Labour government of “falling behind” its allies in failing to stand up to China, after ministers backtracked on plans to push for formal recognition of the country’s treatment of the minority group as genocide.

    Speaking after David Lammy’s first visit to China as UK foreign secretary, the human rights activist Rahima Mahmut, who has lived in exile in the UK since 2000, said she had hoped there would be a shift in UK policy once the party came into power, including following the US in declaring a continuing genocide in Xinjiang.

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

  • Employment rights bill will cost firms £5bn per year but benefits will justify costs, government says – as it happened

    Analysis from business and trade department says bill will significantly strengthen workers’ right. This live blog is closed

    In the past the weirdest budget tradition was the convention that the chancellor is allowed to drink alcohol while delivering the budget speech. But since no chancellor has taken advantage of the rule since the 1990s (and no one expects Rachel Reeves to be quaffing on Wednesday week), this tradition is probably best viewed as lapsed.

    But Sam Coates from Sky News has discovered another weird budget ritual. On his Politics at Jack and Sam’s podcast, he says:

    Someone messaged me to say: ‘Did you know that over in the Treasury as they’ve been going over all these spending settlements, in one of the offices, its full of balloons. And every time an individual department finalises its settlements, one of the balloons is popped.’

    There couldn’t be a more important time for us to have this conversation.

    The NHS is going through what is objectively the worst crisis in its history, whether it’s people struggling to get access to their GP, dialling 999 and an ambulance not arriving in time, turning up to A&E departments and waiting far too long, sometimes on trolleys in corridors, or going through the ordeal of knowing that you’re waiting for a diagnosis that could be the difference between life and death.

    We feel really strongly that the best ideas aren’t going to come from politicians in Whitehall.

    They’re going to come from staff working right across the country and, crucially, patients, because our experiences as patients are also really important to understanding what the future of the NHS needs to be and what it could be with the right ideas.

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

  • David Lammy raises human rights and Ukraine in Beijing talks

    Foreign secretary discussed China’s treatment of Uyghurs and support of Russia as well as ‘areas of cooperation’

    David Lammy pressed his Chinese counterpart on human rights concerns and China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during talks in Beijing, the Foreign Office has said.

    The foreign secretary had been under pressure to take a tough line on a range of human rights issues with the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, when the pair met on Friday during Lammy’s first visit to China since taking office.

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

  • Labour backtracks on push for genocide ruling on China’s treatment of Uyghurs

    Exclusive: Party drops plan for formal recognition laid out last year by David Lammy, who will visit Beijing on Friday

    Labour has backtracked on plans to push for formal recognition of China’s treatment of the Uyghurs as genocide in the run-up to David Lammy’s trip to the country this weekend.

    The foreign secretary is expected to arrive in Beijing on Friday for high-level meetings before travelling to Shanghai on Saturday.

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

  • Jenrick denies privately telling Tory MPs he would pivot back to centre if he became leader – as it happened

    Tory leadership also suggests it was a mistake for him to order murals at a children’s asylum centre to be painted over

    Keir Starmer was “appalled” by reports that Israel deliberately fired on peacekeepers in Lebanon, Downing Street said this morning.

    Asked about the prime minister’s reaction to the story, a Downing Street spokesperson said:

    We were appalled to hear those reports and it is vital that peacekeepers and civilians are protected.

    As you know, we continue to call for an immediate ceasefire and an end to suffering and bloodshed. This is a reminder of the importance of us all renewing our diplomatic efforts.

    All parties must always do everything possible to protect civilians and comply with international law. But we continue to reiterate that and call for an immediate ceasefire.

    The very hard Brexit forced through by Boris Johnson means that we are for now driving with the economic handbrake on – we can’t let that handbrake off. It is what is, It is difficult to see this being reversed within the next decade.

    The truth is it could be a conversation that starts in 10 years’ time. It could be longer, but the beginning of a conversation is not the end of that; it’s not the resolution of our relationship to the European Union.

    I think it’ll be very hard to persuade people in the European Union to revisit, to reengage and start getting into another negotiation about Britain’s membership of the European Union, for a long time to come. I’m sorry to say that but they have had up to here with us.

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

  • Boris Johnson calls for referendum on leaving ECHR

    Move over European convention on human rights likely to put pressure on Tory leadership candidates to follow suit

    Boris Johnson has called for a referendum on Britain’s membership of the European convention on human rights, a move likely to increase pressure on those vying for the Conservative leadership to follow suit.

    The former prime minister told the Daily Telegraph there was a “strong case” for a vote on the ECHR, which some Tories blame for hampering their efforts to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

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  • Badenoch says 10% of civil servants are ‘very bad’ and jokes they are ‘should be in prison bad’ – as it happened

    This live blog is closed

    Popular Conservatism, or PopCon, has released the results of a survey of party members suggesting more than half of them favour a merger with Reform UK. Some 30% of the respondents said they tended to support the idea, and 23% were strongly in favour. The survey covered 470 members.

    Annunziata Rees-Mogg, PopCon’s head of communications and a former Brexit party MEP, said:

    Every Conservative activist and canvasser knows people who had been Tories, but voted Reform UK in July. It is no surprise our panellists understand that the next leader of the party needs to take action to bring many like-minded voters back to the Tories. Almost three-quarters want a relationship with Reform in order to unite the right.

    The answer I was often given by people in government at the time was that lockdowns were very popular.

    They were getting 60, 70, 80% popularity ratings in the opinion polls. But you mustn’t believe those opinion polls, they’re basically nonsense.

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

  • Tugendhat condemns Tory rival over claim UK special forces ‘kill rather than capture terrorists’

    Party leadership contender says Robert Jenrick’s remarks show ‘fundamental misunderstanding’ of law of war

    The former security minister Tom Tugendhat has criticised the claim by one of his Conservative leadership rivals that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing” terrorism suspects, saying they were a “fundamental misunderstanding” of the law of war.

    Robert Jenrick, the former immigration minister, has defended his claim on Tuesday, and said it echoed those of the former defence secretary Ben Wallace because of fears that European laws would free any detained assailants.

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

  • Jenrick faces scrutiny over claim UK special forces ‘kill rather than capture terrorists’

    The Tory leadership candidate made the claim in a campaign video calling for the UK to leave the European convention on human rights

    Robert Jenrick is facing condemnation for claiming that UK special forces are “killing rather than capturing” terrorists because of fears that European laws would free any detained assailants.

    In a campaign video launched on X, the Conservative leadership candidate made the statement while listing reasons for leaving the European convention on human rights.

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

  • Kemi Badenoch’s maternity pay comments show how ‘hopelessly out of touch’ Tories are, TUC says – UK politics live

    Leadership rivals Jenrick, Cleverly and Tugendhat reject her comments, as row over her ‘excessive’ claim escalates

    Q: Do you agree with Kemi Badenoch that some cultures are less valid than others?

    Jenrick says culture matters. But he says he disagres with Badenoch on immigration numbers. He says he thinks you have to have a cap on numbers. And he also says he believes the UK has to leave the European convention on human rights. He says Badenoch is just talking about developing a plan in a few years time, and that’s “a recipe for infighting and for losing the public’s trust”.

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

  • The brutal truth behind Italy’s migrant reduction: beatings and rape by EU-funded forces in Tunisia

    Keir Starmer says he wants to learn from Italy’s ‘dramatic’ statistics. But a Guardian investigation reveals that EU money goes to officers who are involved in shocking abuse, leaving people to die in the desert and colluding with smugglers

    When she saw them, lined up at the road checkpoint, Marie sensed the situation might turn ugly. Four officers, each wearing the combat green of Tunisia’s national guard. They asked to look inside her bag.

    “There was nothing, just some clothes.” For weeks Marie had traversed the Sahara, travelling 3,000 miles from home. Now, minutes from her destination – the north coast of Africa – she feared she might not make it.

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

  • ‘Inhumane’ treatment of migrants rounded up in UK’s failed Rwanda plan revealed

    Testimonies from Home Office and security staff show repeated use of force on distressed detainees

    The “inhumane” treatment of migrants rounded up in a “futile” operation for the now scrapped Rwanda scheme, has been laid bare in testimonies from Home Office staff that reveal force was used against distressed detainees.

    Internal documents disclosed to the Observer and Liberty Investigates under the Freedom of Information Act also reveal four recorded instances of migrants attempting to harm themselves after being apprehended.

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

  • Home Office ‘mostly consulted Rwandan officials’ in asylum plan safety report

    Review finds research did not meet ‘minimum standards’ for assessing whether Rwanda was safe place to send people

    The last Conservative government relied largely on evidence from Rwandan officials in its assessment of the country as a safe place to send asylum seekers, an official report has found.

    The independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI) looked at the Home Office’s assessment of whether or not Rwanda was a safe place to send refused asylum seekers, a document known as “country of origin information”.

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

  • Pontins says sorry to Gypsy and Traveller communities over discrimination

    EHRC investigation found 11 unlawful acts aimed at barring Irish Travellers from Pontins’ holiday parks

    Pontins has issued an apology to Gypsy and Traveller communities after an investigation by the equality watchdog uncovered discriminatory practices by the holiday park operator.

    The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) served Pontins with an unlawful act notice in February after an investigation found practices aimed at barring Irish Travellers from its holiday parks between 2013 and 2018.

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

  • Starmer rejects Badenoch’s claim Labour is ‘clueless’ and urges Tories to apologise for the ‘mess they made’ – as it happened

    PM says he will not take lectures from previous government as Kemi Badenoch launches Tory leadership campaign

    Kemi Badenoch is speaking now. She says she wants to talk about the future.

    She was born in the UK, but “grew up under socialism”, she says (referring to her childhood in Nigeria).

    Labour have no ideas. At best, they are announcing things we have already done, and at their worst, they are clueless, irresponsible and dishonest.

    They are trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the public about the state of Britain’s finances, placing political donors into civil service jobs, pretending that they have no plans to cut pensioner benefits before the election and then doing exactly that to cover the cost of pay rises for the unions with no promise of reform, But their model of spend, spend, spend is broken, and they don’t know what to do, and this will only lead to even more cynicism in politics.

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

  • Labour’s plan to reopen immigrant detention centres will be disastrous | Letter

    Gee Manoharan says the government should pivot towards community-based alternatives that uphold British values of humanity and justice

    Your report on the escalating violence and deteriorating conditions at Gatwick immigration removal centre should send shockwaves through anyone with a conscience (Gatwick immigration removal centre getting less safe for detainees, says watchdog, 29 August). The fact that nearly a year after the Brook House inquiry revealed a culture of abuse, the government has allowed these horrors to persist – and worsen – is beyond appalling.

    As someone who has survived the nightmare of immigration detention, I know first-hand the toll that it takes on the human soul. The government’s response? To expand this inhumane system by planning to reopen the Haslar and Campsfield House centres in Hampshire and Oxfordshire respectively, ignoring the mountain of evidence that detention inflicts profound harm. This isn’t just a misstep, it’s a blatant betrayal of human dignity.

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