The move aims to alleviate prison overcrowding and prioritise the safety of British citizens, reported The Telegraph.

Chalk explained that foreign offenders, including shoplifters, thieves, and drug dealers, will receive “conditional cautions” instead of jail time. This means they will be expelled from the country and barred from returning to Britain.

The deportation scheme, overseeing by policing minister Chris Philp, targets the 3,300 foreign prisoners awaiting trial, who represent almost a third of all foreign offenders in English and Welsh jails.

While the plan is intended to streamline the justice system and free up prison space, potential legal challenges from criminals could pose obstacles, the report said.

Chalk also revealed negotiations with Poland and Romania to deport dangerous prisoners to their home countries and accelerate the expulsion of foreign offenders nearing the end of their sentences.

The Justice Secretary emphasised the necessity of increasing prison capacity to uphold public safety. He expressed frustration over the taxpayer burden – £47,000 a year for every inmate – of housing foreign prisoners and has initiated agreements with Albania to transfer certain criminals serving lengthy sentences back to their homeland.

“There is a power that exists in certain lower-level cases, that in place of prosecution, the Home Office deports someone. Now there are some cases where it’s absolutely right that you are going to want to go through the criminal justice process to ensure that that person is properly punished,” he was quoted as saying.

“But there will be other cases where actually it’s in the public interest to simply get them out of the country.”

The early removal scheme, which allows for deportation 18 months before a prisoner’s sentence ends, is being expanded to further alleviate overcrowding.

To address the crisis, resources have been allocated to expedite the deportation process, including a fast-track system for appeals and the use of police cells for overflow prisoners.

Chalk acknowledged delays in the construction of new prisons due to planning issues but assured efforts to create additional cell capacity through refurbishments and temporary measures.

The justice secretary faces pressure to ensure sufficient prison spaces amid impending sentencing reforms, which may lead to increased demand for detention.

He explained that the prison overcrowding problem came from two important choices made by government ministers during the Covid-19 pandemic. First, they decided against releasing 16,000 prisoners early, as suggested in plans by MoJ officials. Second, they chose to keep jury trials going, which is seen as a key freedom for British citizens.

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The former London minister, who represents Sutton and Cheam, on Tuesday said he regrets sparking a controversy by claiming that parts of Tower Hamlets and Birmingham have become “no-go areas”.

He made these remarks during an interview with BBC London radio on Monday while condemning MP Lee Anderson for claiming that London Mayor Sadiq Khan was under the control of Islamist extremists.

During the interview he had said, “Parts of Birmingham, Sparkhill, where there are no-go areas, mainly because of doctrine, mainly because of people using, abusing in many ways, their religion because it is not the doctrine of Islam, to espouse what some of these people are saying.

“That, I think, is the concern that needs to be addressed.”

Both Tower Hamlets and Sparkhill have large Muslim populations.

His remarks were condemned by Labour MPs Apsana Begum and Rushanara Ali, whose constituencies cover Tower Hamlets.

A source close to London mayor told BBC that Scully was resorting to a ‘notorious Islamophobic trope’ with highly offensive and untrue claims.

Tower Hamlets residents who spoke to the Standard have refuted Scully’s claims.

Trish Donnelly, a retail worker who had lived in the area for over 35 years, told the Standard that she hasn’t come across any ‘no go areas’. In fact the area is very multicultural, welcoming, and has an old London charm.

Another resident Ali Sarwar, a restaurant worker, said MP’s comments were hurtful and incorrect.

He conceded that there was crime in the area, “but that is the same for every big city”.

Last year Scully ran to be the capital’s next Conservative mayoral candidate, but failed to make it to the shortlist.

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‘The Sun’ newspaper reports that the unnamed 24-year-old suspect worked at Terminal 5 at Heathrow Airport and is said to have charged customers £25,000 per trip to abuse a loophole and fly them across the British Airways (BA) network without crucial visa documents.

The man reportedly vanished with his partner – a BA ground services staffer – after he was arrested on January 6 and released on bail.

He is believed to have flown out to India where he has reportedly bought several properties.

The suspect got clients, mainly from India, to fly to the UK on a temporary visitor visa then helped them fly to Canada and other countries, the daily reports. UK-based asylum claimants who feared being returned to their country of origin were also his clients.

The scam came to light after Canadian authorities raised an alarm when most BA flights to Toronto or Vancouver had passengers immediately declare asylum.

An investigation into the issue discovered that all passengers were checked in by the same man who wrongly verified the travellers had an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to enter a chosen country. An ETA can be applied for by a passenger only in their country of origin and therefore should have been rejected.

“He exploited a loophole knowing that immigration checks are no longer carried out by officials but are left to airline staff,” ‘The Sun’ newspaper quoted a source as saying.

“By inputting wrong data, and claiming eTA documents had been secured, he got people to countries they had no permission to enter in the first place. On arrival, the bogus passengers would shred their documents and claim asylum. Many jetted to Britain to pay him to get them to Canada,” the source said, adding that the full extent of the scam remains unknown.

“We’re assisting the authorities with their investigation,” a BA spokesperson said.

There has been a rise in cases of Indians trying to illegally migrate to foreign shores, especially the US. They try to enter the US either through Canada in the north or from Mexico in the south.

Last December, a flight from Dubai to Nicaragua with 303 passengers on board, all from India, was stopped by authorities in France’s Vatry airport over suspicions of human trafficking. After questioning the passengers, the flight was rerouted to Mumbai. (PTI)

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Both the Kumar and Webber families issued a joint statement, reported in the Shropshire Star, and said they will not be silenced to ensure urgent changes are made at Nottinghamshire Police.

An investigation found 11 members of the force’s staff viewed material relating to the case who did not have a legitimate reason to do so. Three faced disciplinary action, but eight did not, instead being handed “performance interventions”.

“We will not be silenced. This behaviour must be addressed and urgent changes made as this must not happen again to other innocent families,” read a statement on behalf of the victims’ families sent by Emma Webber, the mother of Barnaby.

It noted the “utmost importance that our serious concerns and ongoing mismanagement by the Nottingham Police are brought to light”.

The families also criticised the force for holding an off-the-record press briefing last week, where journalists were told they could not report the information discussed.

“We cannot find any fair or reasonable rationale as to why the police force has endeavoured to shackle the media from reporting on their conduct or investigations,” the statement said.

It comes a week after the government approached the Court of Appeal over the “unduly lenient” sentence imposed on a 32-year-old man guilty of the killings in June 2023.

Valdo Calocane was sentenced to a mental health order to be detained in a high-security hospital following a hearing at Nottingham Crown Court over the stabbing spree in the city in June 2023.

Kumar, 19, was a medical student who was returning to her university with Webber, also 19, when accosted by Calocane, who then went on to murder Ian Coates nearby.

“Valdo Calocane’s crimes were horrific and have shocked a nation. He brutally killed three innocent people, and violently attacked three other victims. Their experiences will stay in our minds for a long time to come,” attorney general Victoria Prentis said in a statement.

“This was a case that evoked strong feelings amongst so many people and it was no surprise that I received so many referrals under the Unduly Lenient Sentence scheme to consider the Hospital Order handed to Calocane. My duty as a law officer in considering whether sentences may be unduly lenient is to act independently of government, even when it is not easy or popular,” she said.

“Having received detailed legal advice and considered the issues raised very carefully, I have concluded that the sentence imposed against Calocane, for the offences of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility and attempted murder, was unduly lenient and will be referred to the Court of Appeal,” Prentis said.

Calocane was sentenced on January 25 to a Hospital Order with a Restriction Order under Sections 37 and 41 of the UK Mental Health Act 1983. The Attorney General’s office said the case received numerous Unduly Lenient Sentence referrals from the public on the day of sentencing itself which led to the government’s Law Officers reviewing the sentence that

Calocane was convicted on, which was manslaughter by diminished responsibility and attempted murder offences.

The case has now been lodged with the Court of Appeal.

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He warned that all politicians had an obligation to be “careful” and not “unnecessarily inflame” tensions after the former deputy Tory chairman, Lee Anderson, was accused of stoking anti-Muslim hate.

He denied that Conservatives have Islamophobic tendencies.

Sunak said his priority is to “try and take the heat out of this situation and that’s what everyone wants to see,” the daily added.

Sunak made his comments after Anderson again refused to apologise for claiming that Islamists had “got control” of the London mayor Sadiq Khan.

While the party withdrew the whip for Anderson, the move has divided Tory MPs with some claiming that the suspension will upset party supporters.

Grassroots Conservative supporters have called Rishi Sunak a “snake” over Lee Anderson’s suspension and wanted it revoked, The Guardian reports.

In leaked WhatsApp messages, members of the Conservative Democratic Organisation (CDO), which was founded by disgruntled Tories after Boris Johnson and then Liz Truss were ousted, attacked the prime minister for kicking Anderson out of the parliamentary party, the daily added.

On Monday night the former home secretary Suella Braverman described the reaction to Anderson’s comments as “hysteria”.

She said the focus should be on how to tackle Islamist extremism in the UK, The Times reports.

Right-wing party Reform UK said Anderson’s sentiments were “supported by millions of British citizens” and suggested he would be welcome to their party if he wishes.

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He issued a statement on Saturday (24) to condemn the hijacking of protests on the streets of the country by extremists to glorify terrorism. It came as a report in ‘The Sunday Times’ newspaper claims that three unnamed female MPs have been sanctioned additional security after concerns about their safety.

“The explosion in prejudice and antisemitism since the Hamas attacks on the 7 October [2023] are as unacceptable as they are un-British. Simply put antisemitism is racism,” said Sunak in his statement.

“Legitimate protests hijacked by extremists to promote and glorify terrorism, elected representatives verbally threatened and physically, violently targeted and antisemitic tropes beamed onto our own Parliament building,” he said, with reference to an offensive projection on the Palace of Westminster recently.

“And in Parliament this week a very dangerous signal was sent that this sort of intimidation works. It is toxic for our society and our politics and is an affront to the liberties and values we hold dear here in Britain,” he said of the scenes of chaos in the Commons last week over a Gaza ceasefire vote.

While he did not make a reference to it specifically, his intervention came soon after the governing Conservatives suspended party MP Lee Anderson after he claimed during an interview that Pakistani-origin London Mayor Sadiq Khan was under the control of “Islamists”.

The Opposition had demanded action over the remarks, which Labour Leader Keir Starmer branded as a “racist and Islamophobic outburst”.

“This isn’t just embarrassing for the Conservative Party, it emboldens the worst forces in our politics,” said Starmer.

The row follows an article by former home secretary Suella Braverman over the weekend that claimed Islamists and extremists were taking charge in all walks of life in Britain, attacked as “extreme rhetoric” by the Opposition parties.

Braverman, sacked from the Cabinet by Sunak last year, was reacting to Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle saying that he had selected certain amendments to a motion related to ceasefire in Gaza in a bid to ensure all options were on the table for MPs to vote on and to protect MPs’ safety.

According to ‘The Sunday Times’ report, security minister Tom Tugendhat has been working with the Home Office, the police and the parliamentary authorities to significantly enhance the safety and security of MPs. As part of the overhaul, the royal and VIP executive committee (RAVEC), which is responsible for the security of the royal family as well as senior politicians including the prime minister and home secretary, has been brought in to help assess the threat to MPs.

“Many MPs are petrified by the abuse they are facing,” a senior security source was quoted as saying.

It is understood that the female MPs requiring additional security have been provided with close protection by private companies, along with chauffeur-driven cars, which are normally provided only to senior members of the Cabinet and the Leader of the Opposition.

(PTI)

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Anderson said on Friday the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was under the control of Islamists in widely condemned remarks that prompted the Conservatives to suspend him on Saturday.

Asked whether the party had Islamophobic tendencies, Sunak told BBC radio: “No, of course it doesn’t.”

“Lee’s comments weren’t acceptable. They were wrong, and that’s why he’s had the whip suspended,” he added.

Meanwhile, Tory chairman Richard Holden has accused Labour of “desperately attempting to deflect” from its recent problems “by playing politics” over Anderson.

He sought to contrast the Tories’ handling of the Anderson row with Sir Keir Starmer’s handling of the Rochdale anti-Semitism row. He suggested that “perhaps Labour should deal with the issues it faces before desperately attempting to deflect by playing politics on such a serious matter”, The Telegraph reports.

Transport secretary Mark Harper left the door open for a possible return to the Tory Party for Lee Anderson. He told Sky News: “I hope he will reflect on what he said and he will retract those comments and apologise.”

Harper noted that Anderson has contributed a lot in the past. “I’d like to see him be able to contribute to the Conservative Party in the future.”

Khan, who regularly speaks of the importance of fighting antisemitism, misogyny and homophobia, has said he regarded Anderson’s comments as racist and Islamophobic, and that they would “pour fuel on the fire of anti-Muslim hatred”.

Labour Party chair Anneliese Dodds, said Anderson’s comments were “unambiguously racist, Islamophobic, divisive, and damaging”, reports Sky News.

She observed that the Tory MPs “rallying round” Anderson “shows the extent of the problem within the Conservative Party” and that the PM is “too weak to deal with that problem”, Sky News reports.

Dodds said every political party has to act against prejudice in all of its forms. “Labour has done that against antisemitism, against Islamophobia, other forms of racism – we’ve worked hard to make sure we’re rooting out that prejudice.”

Liberal Democrats deputy leader Daisy Cooper said Sunak should have condemned Anderson’s comments as racist and Islamophobic in his interview.

“The refusal of Rishi Sunak and his ministers to properly call out Lee Anderson’s extreme comments shows just how low the Conservative party has fallen,” The Guardian reports.

A survey conducted from Feb. 16-18 by Savanta showed that 29% of Britons believed the Conservatives had a problem with Islamophobia, the most of any major British political party. (Agencies)

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While sharing her experience on a BBC programme, Preet Gill, who represents Birmingham Edgbaston, said her job worried her “in a way I’ve never been worried before”.

This comes in the wake of the House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle’s contentious decision to alter procedure amid a vote on Gaza, citing concern over MPs’ safety.

Gill told BBC, “I think when you’re a woman, especially in Parliament, the level of misogyny and hatred and that people can actually sit down and write a direct threat to you without feeling there are going to be [any] consequences, has become part of the work that we do.”

She suspects she is getting more abuse and threats after the Gaza conflict began.

Gill said she had also been shouted at in the street.

Last year, the British Sikh MP had approached the police after receiving a threatening email.

Another guest on the BBC programme, Theo Clarke, Conservative MP for Stafford, said she walked around her constituency with a panic button “at all times”, adding the device was linked directly to the police.

In 2022, Theo Clarke received phone calls from angry constituents berating her for taking time off after the birth of her child.

She said that in addition to her personal panic button, she also had similar in the bedrooms of her constituency home.

However, both women said despite the challenges, they did not wish to leave politics.

Guards for three MPs

Meanwhile, three women MPs, who have not been named, have been provided bodyguards and chauffeur-driven cars amid rising concerns about their safety, according to the Sunday Times.

Representatives of the Conservative and Labour parties had their security upgraded after a risk assessment, the daily added.

Quoting a source, the daily said many MPs are petrified by the abuse they are facing.

Security minister Tom Tugendhat is reportedly working with the Home Office, police chiefs and parliamentary authorities to bolster the safety and security of MPs.

Recently a dentist was convicted for writing tweets threatening Brent North MP Barry Gardiner.

In his impact statement, the Labour Party MP felt the legislators were offered poor security and cited the death of two of his party colleagues in recent years – Jo Cox in 2016 and Sir David Amess in 2021.

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Junior doctors — those below specialist, consultant level — started joining picket lines from 0700 GMT, as part of a walkout that will last until the end of Wednesday (28).

It follows nearly a dozen strikes over the last year, which included the longest walkout — totalling six days — in the seven-decade history of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS).

The country has been hit by walkouts across various sectors over the last two years, as decades-high inflation in 2023 and a cost-of-living crisis led staff to demand pay rises to keep up with spiralling prices.

The British Medical Association (BMA) has been asking for 35 per cent “pay restoration” for junior doctors as its starting position, but insists it is willing to negotiate.

The government, which is responsible for health policy in England, has said the demands are unaffordable amid stretched public finances.

Health secretary Victoria Atkins on Saturday (24) accused the BMA committee representing junior doctors of refusing to put her latest offer to its members.

She insisted the government was “prepared to go further than the pay increase of up to 10.3 per cent that they have already received” and called for more talks.

But BMA junior doctors committee co-chairmen Robert Laurenson and Vivek Trivedi said they need “a credible pay offer” which would “begin reversing the pay cuts they have inflicted upon us for more than a decade”.

(AFP)

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Sunak, in an article in an early edition of the Sunday Times to mark two years since the start of the conflict, said Ukraine continued to need more long-range weapons, drones and munitions, as well as other assistance.

“We must be bolder in hitting the Russian war economy …. And we must be bolder in seizing the hundreds of billions of frozen Russian assets,” he said.

Last month British Investment Minister Dominic Johnson met US Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo to discuss the seizure of frozen Russian assets, but stressed this needed to be done in accordance with international law.

The European Union, U.S., Japan, and Canada froze some $300 billion of Russian central bank assets in 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine.

Group of Seven countries have been studying a possible seizure of the assets as a way to have Russia pay for the damage its invasion caused in Ukraine.

Sunak also urged the US to continue to provide financial and military support for Ukraine.

“We should never underestimate what America has done for Ukraine and for Euro-Atlantic security. I urge them to continue that support, and I am confident they will,” he wrote in the article.

Britain’s defence ministry announced 245 million pounds ($311 million) of aid to fund Ukrainian artillery ammunition on Saturday (24).

(Reuters)

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