Thursday 5 December 2013

Memories of Nelson Mandela:






In the summer of 1985 I was a young man fresh out of Manchester University. Through my reading of African liberations struggles I had come to understand the significance of the historic struggle of the African National Congress and the leadership provided by the imprisoned Nelson Mandela.

I had printed my own t-shirt with the legend ‘Nelson Mandela ANC’. Wearing it with pride I remember receiving abuse from some white people who accused me of supporting a ‘terrorist’.

Margret Thatcher’s support for the South African Apartheid regime and her condemnation of Mandela had influenced the country. Despite this I saw over the next decade millions of British people join the Anti Apartheid Movement.

We needed no convincing to support the ANC. The daily brutality of the Boer regime was daily news item. I am told that at the time the Association Chief Police Officers requested Margaret Thatcher to put pressure on the BBC to stop news reports showing brutality in South Africa. Police officers were reporting fierce resistance on the streets. The fact was black youth in the UK faced with a racist police service were joining the dots.

As the spokesperson for the National Black Caucus I had worked with ANC exiled comrades living in London I was honoured to be invited to organise a reception for Nelson Mandela in London in 1993. I was later able to facilitate Mandela’s support for the Stephen Lawrence Campaign.

My association was close and I was fully involved in working with the ANC and others in the Anti Apartheid Movement. I attended the Freedom concert at Wembley and celebrated with the entire world the defeat of despicable racist regime.

When I think of Mandela I cannot but help think of the magnificent Cuban Army who took on and beat the South African Army providing a turning point in the war against Apartheid. In 1988 Fidel Castro sent his army to support the Peoples Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola who were defending the area of Cuito Cuanavale from the advancing armies of the South African Army and the US backed mercenaries of Jona Savimbi.

In a decisive battle that ultimately led to the defeat of Apartheid, the Cubans and Angolans defeated the forces of racism.

Nelson Mandela never forgot the sacrifice made by the Cuban people. Always a man of principle Mandela, whilst forgiving his enemies, never forgot his friends.

In 1996 I met him again in London Brixton with Operation Black Vote, where he was literally mobbed and applauded from the rooftops.

The next time we met was in Durban South Africa at the 2001 United Nations World Conference on Racism.  Finally I had both the honour and privilege of being part of the former London Mayor Ken Livingstone’s team that ensured that Mandela was honoured with a statue in Parliament Square. The great man himself came to the unveiling. 

I consider myself to be very lucky to have had these opportunities. For a working class black boy who printed a t-shirt I count myself having been blessed. I remember those times with a sense of deep joy and appreciation.  

Now the world will mourn and the global media will dedicate hours to his memory. Knowing the man as I do, I suspect Madiba would not be impressed. I think I can hear him saying “ I was part of team”  I dedicate this song Rastaman Chant by the late great Bob Marley and the Wailers to you Madiba. 

RIP Nelson Mandela 

Monday 2 December 2013

Open Invite: Race & Criminal Justice Roundtable

Dear Colleges,

As you may the Government has released the latest figures highlighting racial disproportionality within the Criminal Justice system in England and Wales for the years 2010 - 2012. The report, includes, for the first time, accurate data reporting a frightening level of racial disproportionality in our courts. Key findings include;


  • 1.5 million Black. Asian and ethnic minority  people subjected to stop and search since 2008
  • Black and Asian defendants more likely to receive custodial sentences despite having less extensive criminal antecedents than white offenders.
  • 7% increase in use of stop and search.

In addition the Drugs Charity Release has published a report analysing drug stop and search interventions by Police Officers. Here again this report highlights the extent to which black communities are being criminalised as a consequences of massive rises in the use of stop & search and the clear discrimination that results in Black people being 50% more likely to be charged with Cannabis offences and a remarkable 70% more likely to be charged with Cocaine offences. I have written articles on this that provide a more in depth analysis here http://leejasper.blogspot.co.uk/

The Equality and Human Rights Commission and Her Majesties Inspectorate of Constabularies have both highlighted serious concerns re the Police use of Stop and Searches powers.

My own conclusion is that over the last five years Black Asian and ethnic minority peoples have seen a huge increases in racially profiling by the Police using the suspicion of drugs possession as the means to  criminalise communities at an alarming rate. 

These reports provide real evidence of an escalating trend of institutionalised racism within policing and the criminal justice system. This raises the question as to how we can work together to tackle these issues and ensure they are placed on the political and media agenda.

To that end I have organised an initial roundtable discussion among organisations and individuals  working or with an interest in this issue with a view to:

  • hear what about the work of other organisations on this issue
  • to exchange information on the response of Government, regulatory and inspection authorities to these issues
  • to explore the possibilities of joint action designed to highlight this issue

The meeting will take place on December 11th 2013 at Portcullis House Westminster at 6pm/ Allow 15 minutes to clear security

Please RSVP you attendance to me Lee-jasper@live.com and do feel free to share this information with other interested parties.

Yours 

Lee Jasper

Tuesday 26 November 2013

English Police & Judicial System At War With Black Britain's Communities.







Black British citizens are being deliberately targeted in an ongoing and unprecedented campaign of criminalisation.




This strategy is carried out by British Police officers under the pretext of policing drug crimes and then executed on the streets by abusing their powers of Stop and Search. They unfairly target black youth, sucking them en masse, into a system of criminal justice that routinely discriminates against black people on a industrial scale.

This consequence of this silent, stealth like war against British black communities can be seen on our streets every single day. Stand for long enough on any British street in any reasonably diverse British city and you will see Police officers relentlessly stopping black people.


Nationwide, the main delivery agent of black people into the criminal justice system is the Metropolitan Police Service.

The Mets main operational policing focus is to target black youth in a London wide Stop and Search dragnet that captures and feeds huge numbers of young people into a criminal justice system that punishes them again and again, simply for having the audacity of being Black and British.

The issue raised here, of course applies to all black communities right across the country, however the vast bulk of the problem resides in our capital city. The Metropolitan Police Service undertakes over 42% of all Stop and Searches conducted in England and Wales.

Whether in London, Birmingham or Manchester, Black communities are witnessing the return of the era of mass criminalisation, last seen in the dark days of the SUS law.

I believe racism in Britain is getting worse. Gone are the colour bar signs and the crude racist violence of the past. Yet one of the most pernicious aspect of modern racism is that Government failure to tackle institutional racism that has led to a systemic and pervasive culture of discrimination that denies access to genuine equality and economic opportunity . Inequality, poverty, job discrimination, economic exclusion and access to opportinity have come to define modern day racism. 

The resultant culture’s of fear, oppression, unfairness and injustice can be detected in Government policies and the hugely disproportionate outcomes experienced by Black people and ethnic minorities,.

This is particularly true in the arena of law and order. This has long been a historical problem for our community however in the context of increasing austerity we have seen massive rises in the numbers of black people arrested and charged with criminal offences. The onset on privatisation of large parts of the criminal justice system has allowed the profit motive to dominate to such an extent, as is the case in the United states, that we are now seen as nothing more than  ‘commodities’, the raw material needed to meet crime targets and fill jails. 

Just like Slave plantations of old we now provide a growing prison based economy with the fuel it needs to generate massive profits in the increasingly lucrative private public sector prison industries.

The main conveyor belt into the criminal justice system for the majority of our people is Stop and Search. The overwhelming focus of Policing on poor black communities sows a bitter harvest for us however such racism reaps it own reward for the Police, politicians and criminal justice practitioners. 

The Equality and Human Rights Commission and Her Majesties Inspectorate of Constabularies have both highlighted serious concerns re the Police use of Stop and Searches powers. 

These appalling abuse of this invasive power has led to the collapse of Black and ethnic minority trust and confidence in the Police and was cited as one of the reasons for the 2011 August disturbances after the Metropolitan Police killing of Mark Duggan.

Since 2008 Stop and Search has increased in London by 200,000 the majority of this targeted at Black and Asian particularly Muslims.

Such is the scale of this increase over the last five years that  is my simple contention that we have now reached the maximum pain threshold we can endure in relation to oppressive Policing and injustice

I have written previously on the dangerously low level's of trust between Black communities and the Police. What these figures tell us is that the current the level of trust and confidence between the Police and Black communities is at the lowest level ever recorded.

The sheer scale of criminalisation we are currently experiencing is further evidenced in a number of important reports I would urge you to read.


This report demonstrates that the policing and prosecutions of drug possession offences in England and Wales are unfairly targeting Black people.


The report looks how racism influences Stops and Search, arrests, prosecution and sentencing rates. It concludes that the UK drug laws are the major driver for the gross racial disproportionally that exists in our criminal justice system.
Put simply the report shows the forces such as the Metropolitan Police uses Stop and Search to unfairly target black people, who are twice as likely (50%) than white people to be charged with possession of Cannabis as opposed to being cautioned. That is bad enough but it gets worse.

We are 70% more likely to be charged and appear in court for possession of Cocaine than white people arrested for the same amount and same offences. 
For drug offences the  majority of white people receive cautions rather than being sent to court. For Black people the reverse is true. That is the real nature of institutional racism in Britain.

And all this despite the fact that Black people being less likely to use drugs than whites. The disparity is startling.
In the last five years literally hundreds of thousands of black people have been unnecessarily stopped and searched.  Many are then arrested, charged sent to court for minor drug offences in stark contrast to their white counterparts who are much more likely to be arrested and cautioned i.e. not sent to court. So over time, we can see how this process of criminalisation works and poisoning the future of our young people and destroying lives. 
And that's only what we know about from the Government data they provide. I suspect that the reality is, that the majority of Stop and Searches are not recorded. 

Home Office research on the recording of Stop & search concluded that;
“…that only about one-third of stop and search encounters were recorded.”
Her Majesties Inspectorate of Constabulary recently published a report on the use of Stop and Search
They asked the public what they thought about the Police use of the power
Interestingly, a quarter of respondents believed that certain groups of people in society are likely to be stopped and searched more often than others, with a third attributing this to unlawful discrimination (this figure increased to around 55% among black and minority ethnic respondents)”
After inspecting forces Stop and Search data they found,

“An alarming 27% (2,338) of stop and search records examined by HMIC did not contain reasonable grounds to search people, even though many of these records had been endorsed by supervisors. They were not fulfilling their duties according to the code of practice.”

In relation to the veracity of the data provided by the Police they concluded,

“ We were not able to assess the true level of under-recording, as the carrying out of a stop and search is, in the vast majority of occasions, known only to the searcher and the searched."

Another recent publication by the Ministry of Justice on Statistics on Race and the Criminal Justice System 2012

This report demonstrates that nationally the use of Stop and Search has increased by 7% since 2010.

To give you a sense of the sheer scale of the hidden process of criminalisation of our community here are some truly frightening numbers.

Since 2008 a massive 814,000 Black people have been subjected to this dragnet power, 523,000 Asians and 158,000 people of mixed heritage. That is a staggering 1.5m Black and ethnic minority peoples have been subjected to the use of this power.

The arrest rate during that time has fluctuated but on average has remained at around 10%. The remaining 90% though released by the Police will be subjected to on going repeated Stop and Searches.

The most cited reason for use of the power recorded by Police officers is drugs. The “war against drugs” as the Release report demonstrates is a proxy for a war against black people.

Another recent Ministry of Justice report published very quietly, contains a killer fact that hits the nail on the proverbial head and clearly demonstrates what happens to Black people when they end up in British courts.

They found that British judges and magistrates are consistently handing out lenient sentences to white offenders and routinely handing out heavier sentences to Black and Asian people.

This disgusting reality demonstrates the collusion of racist policing and a racist justice system where black communities are forced to witnessed our young people being routinely and unfairly criminalized as offenders, unfairly sentenced if found guilty, then thrown into jail for longer than their white counterparts committing similar crimes.

This reports shows that Black and Asian defendants are almost 20 per cent more likely to be sent to jail than those who are white. This despite the fact that white defendants committed more crime and have much longer criminal records. 

The Independent Newspaper one of the only major British newspapers to cover this report stated,

“Disturbingly, in every year studied, a higher proportion of white defendants had previous convictions – which would normally result in a greater number of prosecutions and harsher sentences. But this does not appear to be the case.
The proportion of white criminals sentenced to immediate custody by the courts was 26 per cent while the proportion of black criminals sent to prison was 31 per cent and Asians 32 per cent. The average custodial sentence for white offenders was 15.9 months; for black prisoners it was 23.4 months.”

These reports provide hard unequivocal evidence and data about the undeniable racism, injustice and injury suffered by British black communities at the hands of both the Police and  the Courts.

As a the first Black Policing Director for London, a former member of the London Criminal Justice Board and as someone who has spent the majority of my life campaigning against the racism of the British criminal justice system in an attempt to improve black community police relations, I speak with an insight, credibility and authority few can offer.

A largely white dominated media and political Westminster elite class will ignore this article dismissing its importance as representing nothing more than a fringe extremist voice seeking to prosecute a political agenda.

They, alongside some black professionals, will no doubt hope that the issues I ventilate here are nothing more than the vain and hysterical imaginings of a black activist with a huge chip on his shoulder.

Nothing could be farther from the truth.

In truth I despair for the future of our young black people in the UK and cannot stand idly by whilst the historical waxes and wanes of racism throughout the ages, now resurgent, reach a full flood. The truth, however unpalatable for some, is that these authoritive reports speak for themselves.

At this point I should issue a serious public health warning. These reports rely on both the Government and the Police providing the raw data.  I don't trust that data and believe the reality of racism in the arena of criminal justice is in fact likely to be much worse than that outlined in these critical reports.

This is backed up by other evidence, As an activist I am constantly approached by people needing support after suffering what they believe to be unjust and racist treatment from police officers and the courts.

I am currently inundated with complaints to the point that I am personally overwhelmed, unable to help the vast majority of those who request help. 

The people who are contacting me on a daily basis are Black women terrified for their sons and daughters. On the one hand there is the ever-present threat of serious youth violence and sexual criminality, but when it comes to their sons they are really petrified by the Police. 

It’s the increasing frequency of these tragic realities that prove what the figures are telling us. Im of the strong view that institutional racism in terms of general society and in particular in the areas of law and order, have over the last five years been given a green light by politicians like David Cameron and Boris Johnson who reject accusations of institutional racism and have engaged in scorched earth policy in relation to British race equality policies. As a result institutional racism in Britain is resurgent, rampant and out of control.

When it comes to detecting changes in the level of racism Black women are the akin to the Canary in the coalmine. They, along with children are usually first to feel the pain. I have not known an outpouring of anger and despair, such as this, since the mid 70’s.
 
I genuinely believe and studies I think confirm, that relations between Black communities and the Police are the worst they’ve ever been, particularly in London.

These relations have regressed back to the hate fuelled ‘war footing’ last seen in the late 70’s early 80’s.

The majority victims of this profoundly unjust war of oppression are our own young people, left largely undefended from the overwhelming, combined forces of racial social and economic injustice, reigned against them. It is our moral duty to defend them at all costs.

These are strong words for the delicate English palate of politicians, professionals and the liberal media. No doubt there will  be some black professionals who also find these comments deeply disturbing.

Some will, no doubt seek to reject my analysis as nothing more than an ill-considered, intemperate rant.

But there will be others, the silent majority of our communities who suffer in silence, ordinary hard working, everyday black people whose voices are rarely heard in the soft temperate polite circles of Westminster that will read this and cheer to the rafters.

Over the last five years institutional racism has returned with a determined and deadly vengeance threatening to eviscerate our rights to a future free of racism.

As a direct consequence of the relentless ideological political attack on all things anti racist, multiculturalism and immigrant communities by this Tory led Government, we are witnessing a return of a racism, many thought had been defeated in the wake of the publication of the seminal McPherson report.

How wrong we were. 

I believe that Black people are now seen by some as nothing more than a dehumanised commodity. Racism is a function of the economy and wherever racism thrives, someone somewhere is making money.

The more the Police meet their crime targets by criminalizing black people, the more they’re jobs and promotions are assured. The more successful criminal prosecutions, the more the lawyers on both sides are paid, the more convictions are secured the more prisons we need to build and the longer we are kept in jail the more prison officers are needed. Finally the more of us that are criminalised the more we remain weak, undermined and oppressed,

When we go to jail everybody gets paid. Thats the indisputable fact, in the US they have a term to describe this reality, the Prison Industrial Complex.

So having won what we thought was a great victory against racism at the 1999 Lawrence Inquiry, we have seen our every advance, all our policy initiatives shelved, Black political organisations undermined. 

We have witnessed Black voluntary sector forums and projects destroyed by a Tory led government, that holds an ideological hatred of anti racism, multiculturalism and progressive equality policy and reserves a very special hatred for all things Lord McPherson.

In the tragic, shattered debris of the political infrastructure of the McPherson Inquiry report and recommendations into the murder of Stephen Lawrence, we see the toxic poison of institutional racism return with unremitting force.

We all know that when you seek to combat any dangerous infection, the rule is, if you don’t take the full course of proscribed antibiotics, then it’s likely  the infection will return stronger and more virulent than when first contracted.

Britain Police forces having been deeply infected by the virus of intuitional racism and having failed, as a consequence of political interference, to ingest the full course of anti racist medication have seen institutional racism return, more powerful, more rampant and more toxic than ever.

One of the key benefits of the McPherson Report was that it provided an opportunity for progressive police officers and activists from Black communities to negotiate what I have called the Post McPherson Settlement that ended the national boycott of Police engagement and the monitorium on Black people joining the Police service. 

The deal was clear and simple.

The Metropolitan Police accepted the need to rout out institutional racism and working in partnership tackle racism the the ranks, the scourge of racist attacks, the abuse of Stop and Search and suspicious deaths in Police custody. 

We would work with the police to tackle violent crime in the Black community. This formed the basis for the formation of Metropolitan Police’s Operation Trident; a community led policing operation that attracted worldwide recognition and plaudits.

Today Trident is a joke, having been politically hijacked by Boris Johnson and the supine Commissioner Bernard Hogan Howe. Instead of improving trust and confidence around tackling serious gun killings in London.

Trident is now London’s anti gang command. and under Boris Johnson we have seen massive rises in Stop and Search and the use of the discredited law of Joint Enterprise, the use of supergrass evidence, failure to maintain improvements in the Witness Protection programme and the shooting of Duggan have all conspired to seal its fate. 

Today, Trident, the Police and politician’s reputations are shattered and destroyed and Trident and the Metropolitan Police stand in the dock for the shooting of Mark Duggan. 

What do we do now? 

What is required now is to get these important facts out into the wider community. That can only happen with your support and you can do this by posting, tweeting and sharing this article everywhere. Most people are not fully aware of the massive increases the rate of criminalisation of our community that have taken place of late.  We need to ensure that these facts are more widely known and mobilise ourselves to challenge a racism that is destroying the future of our community. 

Do not underestimate the extent to which this view will be summarily discounted and real attempts to marginalise its conclusions. I can only rely on you to help get the news out and help make this article go viral.

So concerned about this issue  that I will accept invitations to speak on these issues to communities and events nationwide. It is vital that local communities begin organising public meetings to inform and mobiles to challenge the Government's refusal to tackle these fundamental human rights abuses.

Next we need a national meeting of concerned organisations that can reach a consensus on how we can place these issues on the desk of David Cameron, on the front pages of our newspapers and lead item on our broadcast news. We need a coordinated response from our community to stem this determined effort to criminalise an entire community.

That’s why I have organised an urgent meeting to take place at Portcullis House Westminster, London Weds 11th December 6 - 8pm 19 Committee Room 19. Nearest Tube Westminster.

If you’re interested in coming along RSVP me lee-jasper@live.com

I will also be discussing this as my lead topic on my brand new breakfast radio show on Britain’s only licensed Black commercial radio station Colourful Radio on Friday 29th November between 7am and 10am.

I would love to here your views on these issues .

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

To take part in this weeks show on Colourful Radio

You Can Call Me: 0800 999 8090

Txt Me: 80818 colourful

Tweet Me: @colourfulradio 

Friday 25 October 2013

Immigration Bill: A divisive bill that will lead to a divided Britain.

http://movagxen.wordpress.com/
Twitter @NoXenophobia 

Thank you for those of you who made it to the Movement Against Xenophobia launch at the House of Commons and Stop The Immigration Bill protest held on Tuesday 22nd October. In seven days we have secured the support of over 65 organisations to our founding statement and as each day goes by more people and organisations are siginng up. So from all at MAX its a very b:og thanks you for all of you who helped spread the word. 


Both our Parliamentary launch and lobby was a fantastic success. 
Both were organised within seven days and yet we were able to attract around 150 people to attend Parliament and lobby their MP's.

At the lobby speakers such as Habib Rahman Chief Executive of Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants,  Unite Political Director Jennie Formby, Cllr Lester Holloway from the Lib Democrats  Jeremy Corbyn MP in addition to campaigning groups such as Southall Black Sisters and Movement for Justice

All gave powerful and moving testimony of the real danger of promoting racism, irreparably damaging community relations and the real threat to human rights legislation should this bill go through.


In the afternoon MAX joined the London Chinatown Chinese Association & Min Quan and The Monitoring Group in a demonstration in London's China Town that saw every single Chinese restaurant close down for two hours in protest at the heavy handed and repeated targeting of their businesses by UKBA deportation squads. This is an issue that is affecting every single black and ethnic minority business as UKBA under orders from Theresa May unfairly targets these businesses whether that’s in China Town, Bangla Town, Brixton or Brent the story is the same.

Black and ethnic minority business are being unfairly targeted by an aggressive and sometimes racist UKBA. The point was not lost on those in attendance that whilst Britain was Chinese investment it remains hostile to Chinese people. 

Please see below for some critical information on the Bill’s progress and action we need you to take immediately . 

We really rely on you now to help us get the message out as the Tories are seeking to rush the bill through Parliament in record time in the hope that any opposition will be ill prepared and disorganised.  

We believe the bill will lead to a divided Britain and further demonise hard working immigrant families and any one else assumed to be a foreign national.  If this bill becomes law as is,  then all our communities will be forced to demonstrate their right to be in the UK on a daily basis whenever we want to rent a flat, access health care or open a bank account. 

In essence doctors, landlords, banks are all to become border guards for the UKBA. This will lead to widespread anger confusion. 

All trade unions must refuse to comply with what in essence a codification of racism into British immigration law. As such we must now make our opposition clear to the Tory , Lib Dems and Labour Parties that such a bill in a multicultural society like Britain is a recipe for disaster.  

Len McCluksky General secretary of Unite  stated categorically that Unite and its members will 

"... oppose Home Secretary Theresa May’s Immigration Bill every step of the way." 

He added " We do not spy on our friends and neighbours on behalf of the state"

What we need from Unite and other Trade unions is a motion agreeing that union members and public sector workers should refuse to carry out nationality checks on NHS patients and bank customers.

The landlords provisions in the bill are scandalous and herald a return to the days of the Colour Bar where Carribean Windrush and Irish immigrants in the 1960's were confronted with the signs;

 No Blacks No Dogs No Irish.

Disappointingly the Labour Party has already expressed it's in principle support, for this nasty divisive bill. This completely unacceptable and we will need to bring maximum pressure to bear on Ed Millband and Labour MP's in the next days and weeks. 

Time is now of the essence and outlined below are a range of actions that we need you to take immediately to ensure that the Tories do not simply stroll this bill through Parliament on the nod. 

1.     At the second reading of the Bill there were a total of eighteen votes against it three Lib Dems, seven Labour and eight from other parties.

2.     The next stage is the Committee Stage where the Bill is analysed line by line. This is normally 3 weeks or so after the 2nd reading. In this case the Government keen to avoid controversy  or organised opposition have decided that they will begin this process next Tuesday 29th Oct. This demonstrates that the Government is running sacred of proper informed debate on the bills provisions.

3.     The Committee will take oral expert evidence on Tuesday 29th Oct and half of Thursday 31st Oct. It will then begin examining the content of the Bill. See bottom of page for details on oral evidence and scrutiny timetable.

4.     Remember organisations  and individuals with an interest can provide written evidence to the Bill Committee.  We urge your organisation to do so by clicking on this link  Have your say on the Immigration Bill

5.     The Committee will complete its consideration of the Bill by Tuesday 19th Nov and then it will go to the Report stage where all MPs debate the provisions, suggest amendments and vote.

You can find the MP members of the Immigration Bill Committee here:

If members of your organisations are constituents of the MPs who are on the Bill Committee they should really be encouraged to write to them.

People still need to write to their MPs saying why they oppose the Bill. Please see MAX website for details and feel free to forward it on for template letters etc.

People  should also urge their MPs to attend the Report stage of the  Bill and vote against it. It will especially useful if constituents of the MPs on the Committee wrote to them in large numbers opposing the Bill.

Please help us and more importantly the wider community wake up to the reality of this deeply divisive bill that will we believe lead to a more divided Britain 

Regards

Lee Jasper
Movement Against Xenophobia.

COMMITTEE STAGE SCHEDULE

The meetings are open to the public.

Tuesday 29 October 8.55am and 2.00pm in the Boothroyd Room Portcullis House

c8.55am until no later than 9.45amProfessor J. Meirion Thomas, The Royal Marsden; and Jacqueline Bishop, Brighton and Sussex University Trust and co-chair of the Overseas Visitors Advisory Group, NHS
c9.45am until no later than 10.45amBritish Medical Association; Royal College of General Practitioners; and Academy of Medical Royal Colleges
c10.45am until no later than 11.25amImmigration Law Practitioners’ Association; and MigrationWatch UK
c2.00pm until no later than 3.00pmNational Landlords Association; Residential Landlords Association; and UK Association of Lettings Agents
c3.00pm until no later than 3.30pmCrisis
c3.30pm until no later than 4.00pmUniversities UK

Thursday 31 October 11.30am and 2.00pm in the Boothroyd Room Portcullis House

c11.30am until no later than 12.00 pmJUSTICE
c12.00pm until no later than 12.30pmLiberty
c12.30pm until no later than 1.00pmJoint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants
c2.00pm until no later than 2.45pmHome Office

Line by line scrutiny of the Bill (all in Committee Room 9, Palace of Westminster): 

Tuesday 5 November  8.55am and 2.00pm
Thursday 7 November 11.30am and 2.00pm
Tuesday 12 November 8.55am and 2.00pm
Tuesday 19 November 8.55am and 2.00pm