Ruth Grove-White's blog
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Ruth Grove-White |
February 18th, 2010
Phil Woolas’ latest comments last weekend have set tongues wagging again about the necessary benchmarks for migrants to meet in order to become ‘proper Brits’. Ministers are fond of talking in broad terms about the need for migrants to ‘earn their citizenship’ by demonstrating ‘British values’. But little attempt has been made by the Home Office to define ‘Britishness’.
February 9th, 2010
The Points Based System (PBS) for immigration is meant to ensure that the government can make swift changes to the criteria for work and study in the UK, in order to respond to ‘changing needs’. But I wonder if anyone else was surprised to hear the news on the radio last Sunday afternoon that a whole host of new rules were being brought in, with immediate effect, to control the entry of people on student visas to the UK. This was a swift change indeed.
January 27th, 2010
Does anyone else find it frustrating when prominent politicians moan about the lack of a ‘proper debate’ on immigration, especially in the lead-up to a general election when soundbites are the order of the day?
September 28th, 2009
The government must be feeling pretty sheepish now that attorney general Baroness Scotland has been caught out by the tough regulations on immigration status and employment which she helped to get through the House of Lords just three years ago.
September 4th, 2009
The news last year that the UK will be expanding its detention capacity by 60% as part of ‘getting tough on immigration’ was in many respects a jaw-dropping announcement.
July 10th, 2009
I was very interested to take part in a seminar discussion last week up at Keele University, to discuss research into the impact of the 2004 changes to naturalisation for foreign nationals. Headed up by Sherilyn MacGregor at the Keele School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy (SPIRE), this research is particularly useful because it comes at a time when citizenship is very much under the spotlight.
June 17th, 2009
Dear friends: Many of you will be aware of the immigration raid which took place at SOAS University in London last Friday 12th June, in which nine contract cleaners were arrested by the UK Border Agency. Campaigners in support of the cleaners allege that they were targeted as a direct result of their union membership, and their previous involvement in a successful Living Wage Campaign for contract staff at the college. Five of the arrested cleaners have reportedly already been removed from the UK and two cleaners remain in immigration detention, awaiting removal.The campaigners say: “We see this raid as indicative of a current political climate, which sees not only corporatisation of universities but the extension of surveillance and border processing to its institutions, affecting both staff and students. This is a call for action, to form a national strategy uniting workers, staff, students and the wider community against racist immigration controls and erosion of workers rights.”
June 10th, 2009
Today the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill enters Committee stage in the House of Commons. Whilst the government has plunged into chaos during the past few weeks, this Bill has been quietly slinking its way towards Royal Assent - introducing a fundamental change in the way that foreign nationals become British citizens. Becoming a Brit could be about to get longer, tougher and more expensive, despite the lack of any evidence that this would be a necessary or effective measure.
May 13th, 2009
Last week the government ID card scheme came back into the news as Jacqui Smith announced a new plan of action to push it forward (news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/8035002.stm). From October all residents of Manchester will be invited to take part in a voluntary ‘pilot’ programme. Airport workers are also being required to have ID cards later on this year - an announcement which has gone down like a lead balloon with trade unions in the sector.
March 24th, 2009
Recently we heard the news that Hicham Yezza has been sentenced to 9 months imprisonment under the 1971 Immigration Act. After coming to the UK on a student visa in 1995, Yezza worked as an administrator at Nottingham University and as a peace campaigner. But he had one skeleton in his closet - his immigration status.
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