If you have something to say...
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If you have something to say...
Say it on the Huffington Post
The Blog
The distress when a single child goes missing is enormous for the families involved. Imagine the scale of upset, then, given the suggestion by one charity that more than 130,000 children go missing in the UK each year. The figures quoted by Parents and Abducted Children Together (PACT) are staggering, beyond many people's comprehension.
The Home Office last week released a statement on its plans to bring in a new EU law on animal experiments. The plans, such as maintaining larger minimum cage sizes than strictly necessary, have been heralded by some as good news. The overall picture is very different.
Last year Theresa May announced that 260,000 fewer student visas will be given out over the next five years, through harsher restrictions on fake colleges and bogus students. Whilst it is clear that preventing fake students from illegally gaining visas is a positive thing, I believe the problem has been hugely overblown, and the solution poorly managed and badly miscommunicated.
The Home Office in the last two years has been run chiefly by the Conservative dogma of repeating things until they become true.
I was really glad to see that the IPCC have written to the Home Office requesting the power to investigate all private staff who carry out police duties. Ultimately the statutory duty on the IPCC is to increase public confidence in the police complaints system in England and Wales, so it will be an interesting one to watch.
Mr Cameron has an odd relationship with this section of the population. He appears to want more of them, which is why he is anxious to cut the amount of tax they pay; except that he is always at pains to point out that this is being done by making them pay more tax.
The latest performance of the long-running Westminster End Farce The Deportation of Abu Qatada came to the Commons stage yesterday afternoon. Its current impressario, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, had news to impart.
If you fancy dinner at The Clink Restaurant, you'll have to be patient - this swanky establishment is booked up months in advance. After making the reservation, don't forget to get security clearance and Home Office approval.
Asylum seekers are those, in the main, who are escaping war and/or have stood up to tyranny and injustice from their rulers. They are courageous people that need to be admired, not vilified.
The Islamic Movement cleric Raed Salah won his appeal this week against a decision by the Home Secretary to exclude him from the UK. The judgement is a sign of our weakness and confusion in the face of extremism.
Last week, the Home Office closed their three-month consultation on the criminalisation of forced marriage. When I initially posted the consultation document in the Facebook group for my organisation, British Muslims for Secular Democracy, there were cries of shock that forced marriage was not already a criminal offence. The right to choose who you will live with, sleep with, eat with and possibly raise children with, for the rest of your life, is as basic a right as they come. Violations of this right are not only disastrous for the individuals involved, but they undermine values that are fundamental to British society and Islam itself.
Ever wondered what kind of rationale goes behind the policy-making decisions executed by the coalition government? Well look no further. Here is a detailed step-by-step guide on how to devise and execute a sound security policy.
It's been a torrid couple of weeks for David Cameron. Ministerial incompetence combined with headline grabbing cock-up's such as the Granny Tax, the Pasty Tax, a tax break for millionaires and the fuel crisis have produced an entirely self inflicted news cycle that refuses to die.
It might be difficult to comprehend, but most of us live boring lives that are extremely dull and will require no state interest.
The Police Federation should not be jumping the gun and playing politics with public safety. It is a necessary and healthy part of the negotiations that they are advocating strongly for their members, but to so at the expense of public safety is a step too far.
I have spent since Sunday evening in Solihull at the Association of Police Authorities Transition Conference which was all about getting ready for a seamless change from Police Authorities to Police and Crime Commissioners in November.
