The first reviews are rolling in for my book, 'Plotters: The UK Terrorists Who Failed', from the esteemed and more
You can pre-order ahead of its release on 23 March here: amazon.co.uk/Plotters-UK-Te
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Lizzie Dearden
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Home affairs editor at the . Retweeting ≠ agreeing.
'Plotters: The UK Terrorists Who Failed' out March 2023 - pre-order at shorturl.at/aGORV
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REVEALED
CW: self-harm
Asylum seekers were handcuffed, restrained and in one case beaten after self-harming amid scenes of desperation and chaos at Manston, internal documents reveal.
Read our latest report with
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The Prison Officers' Association said it had "raised concerns about escalating use of force incidents, particularly in the areas of the site under the control of Interforce staff”
The Home Office admitted "different levels" of training but said all staff at Manston had enough
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The forms record ,"use of force" incidents and should be filled out after everyone, but they weren't
Documents filled in by Home Office and Mitie staff record restraint and incidents involving another private contractor, Interforce, but there were no forms from their employees
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Documents obtained under freedom of information laws by Liberty Investigates, and seen by The Independent, show what was happening inside the processing centre as the population climbed towards 4,000 in October
Several note high tensions inside marquees holding people for weeks
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Exclusive: Asylum seekers were handcuffed and restrained after self-harming in scenes of desperation and chaos at Manston
Shocking accounts by Home Office staff and private contractors also record fights breaking out over food and overcrowding
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There genuinely is no situation in which British police officers will not call people 'mate'. Of course, you'll have to buy the book to find them all, but another highlight:
‘Ok mate, you’re under arrest on suspicion of being a terrorist, alright?’
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If you're interested in police stopping people who really don't like the royal family, my book (out next month) features a failed sword attack on Buckingham Palace. And I quote:
‘Mate, whatever you’re trying to do, just leave it.'
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Shout-out to the police officer who saw a man coming towards Windsor Castle, armed with a crossbow, wearing a mask and dressed “like something out of a vigilante movie", and responded with:
“Morning, can I help mate?”
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Breaking: A man has admitted taking a loaded crossbow to Windsor Castle and threatening to kill the Queen
Jaswant Singh Chail was caught private grounds on Christmas Day in 2021 and “informed officers at the scene that he intended to kill the Queen"
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New: Mentally ill women are being held in “appalling” conditions in a prison where some cells are bloodstained and others have “extensively scratched” walls, a watchdog has warned.
Staff used force on prisoners 395 times in the past year.
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n
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Exclusive: The Home Office has ordered asylum units to work solely on Albanian claims in a bid to speed up deportations – forcing other nationalities to suffer longer waits
'Operation Bridora' is starting on Monday
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Govt has intensified focus on Albanians crossing Channel, labelling them “illegal migrants” & sparking calls from Tirana’s ambassador to stop “campaign of discrimination"
Today PM vowed to “put illegal migrants from Albania back on flights that will ratchet up over the year"
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A 20-year-old law lists Albania among countries, including Ukraine, where the Home Office can declare asylum claims from citizens “clearly unfounded” because they are considered safe
But a source says the law isn't applied evenly and using it for Albanians is "discrimination"
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Sources say it aims to declare as many applications from Albanians “clearly unfounded” as possible, opening door to removal
But only 16% of asylum backlog is Albanian claims and there are concerns it will delay decisions for other nationalities including Afghan, Iranian, Syrian
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I haven't been able to find out what Bridora means - the only person/figure I can find on Google is a World of Warcraft 'netherlord' worldofwarcraft.com/en-gb/characte
“Apparently they ruled out calling it Operation Clusterf***,” a source told me. Pretty sure it was a joke
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Exclusive: The Home Office has ordered asylum units to work solely on Albanian claims in a bid to speed up deportations – forcing other nationalities to suffer longer waits
'Operation Bridora' is starting on Monday
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Not your usual prisoner! Report of a Swan being removed from the Harbour by a drunk male before it being involved in a collision on Mutley Plain. Taken to the vets where they are nursing it back to health 🦢🚔 #HotFuzzInReality #ItsJustTheOneSwanThen #SeeItToBelieveIt
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JUST IN: Andrew Tate trial: Why Romania wants to remind world the toxic influencer is British
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Dominic Raab’s decision to put fewer inmates into open prisons before they are released is making the public less safe, the head of the Parole Board has warned
It means serious criminals are being freed “without crucial testing”
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Police leaders have apologised for years of “deflection and denial” over the Hillsborough disaster, and vowed to bring about cultural change to stop failings being repeated
It is almost 34 years after the crush that caused the deaths of 97 football fans
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Channel crossings have subsequently rocketed, but the government proceeded with the legal changes opposed by Dame Sara and failed to replace her
The Home Office has hailed new powers to restrict access to the National Referral Mechanism and withhold protections from offenders
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In a letter to former home secretary Priti Patel in September 2021, she wrote:
"Not only is there significant potential to further harm genuine trafficking victims, but there is a significant risk that the measures will not work to deter illegal entry into the UK as envisaged"
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In an official report, Dame Sara Thornton said modern slavery changes under Nationality and Borders Act had been “driven by the government’s concerns regarding increasing numbers of arrivals by small boats”, but there was no evidence supporting its allegations of widespread abuse
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The former Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner vocally opposed measures that came into effect on Monday, warning that the “plans will make the identification of victims of modern slavery harder and create additional vulnerabilities”
The government ignored her recommendations
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Recruitment started in December 2021 and interviews happened four months later, but no appointment was made
In December, Suella Braverman scrapped that recruitment process and despite Home Office saying she is "commited to running a new open competition", nothing has been set up
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New laws making it more difficult for victims of slavery and human trafficking to gain support have come into force as the government continues to avoid official scrutiny
It has left the official modern slavery watchdog post empty since last April
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More than 40 per cent of British people no longer trust the police, exclusive polling for The Independent shows
Many, including a substantial portion of Conservatives, think the government is handling policing badly
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Despite that experience, the government is now trying the same thing again by adding new clauses at the report stage of the House of Lords
Some govt amendments are limiting powers with strong opposition, but others are creating wider controls for protests and assemblies
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The strength of opposition in the Lords is not a surprise - the Public Order Bill only exists because the government tried to insert several measures in it as late amendments to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act last year & peers threw them out
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...removing home secretary's power to re-define "key national infrastructure" for interference offence, creates a “Protection for journalists and others monitoring protests” and limits how protest banning orders (Serious Disruption Prevention Orders) can be triggered and used
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There are dozens more opposition amendments that attempt to limit the new protest powers
That includes by raising bar for acts "capable of causing serious disruption" to acts that actually do, creating criminal defences, removing suspicionless stop and search for locking on,,,
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Lords voted narrowly, by 243 to 221, for this Lab/Lib/Green amendment to define the concept of "serious disruption", which underpins many of the police powers and criminal offences in the bill
Govt minister Lord Sharpe had argued the threshold was not "appropriate"
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The government has suffered its first defeat on the controversial protest laws contained in the Public Order Bill in the House of Lords, and there are likely to be more this evening
It was the first amendment peers voted on, and there are *77* on the marshalled list
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Mr Shawcross has familial connections to govt. His daughter, Eleanor, is a long-time Conservative Party adviser and is now head of Downing Street's policy unit. She previously donated £20,000 to Rishi Sunak's leadership bid
She is married to Tory life peer Lord Simon Wolfson
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William Shawcross is currently heading the Independent Review of Prevent, which has also faced questions over its independence
independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-n
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William Shawcross, who was investigating the process to appoint Richard Sharp as BBC Chairman, has recused himself as he has "met Mr Sharp on previous occasions". An "independent person" will take over.
tmentscommissioner.independent.gov.uk/letter-to-digi
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Last week, The Independent revealed that the government had already started planning for the expected strike by organising the deployment of Army personnel and private contractors
It doesn't seem like they're expecting a new pay offer to avert the strike
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Breaking: Firefighters in the UK have voted for the first nationwide strike on pay since 2003
The FBU said it would not launch any industrial action until 9 February at the earliest, to allow employers further time to make any new offer
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So in the short term there will be many more horrific cases
The National Police Chiefs' Council says: "More misconduct will be uncovered, and while every example is uncomfortable and difficult only action, and the public seeing the result of that action, will rebuild confidence"
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Following Carrick, all forces in England and Wales were are also checking their officers and staff against databases to identify any allegations or intelligence that should be investigated
That includes past accusations of domestic abuse or sexual offences that saw no action
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