Tag: PRITI PATEL

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Priti Patel joins Modi event in Abu Dhabi

Ishwar Dholakia, a member of the Indian diaspora said, “I am very proud that such a big event is happening here. PM Modi is developing India’s global relations. He has come here seven times.”..reports Asian Lite News

British MP Priti Patel, who is in Abu Dhabi to attend the ‘Ahlan Modi’ event, said that the event is a celebration of culture and diaspora here in Abu Dhabi.

She said that there is a huge Indian diaspora in the UK and the UAE and all are very excited for the event.

‘Ahlan Modi’ roughly translates to ‘Hello Modi’. Prime Minister Modi will address the Indian diaspora at the event being held in Sheikh Zayed Sports Stadium in Abu Dhabi later in the day.

Priti Patel said, “I am here at this great celebration for Modi. There is an enormous diaspora community of Indians in Abu Dhabi, just like we have back our home. This is a wonderful opportunity, a celebration of our culture here in Abu Dhabi.”

“By being here today, I can share some of this with my friends, and our diaspora community in the UK as well, who are very excited about the living bridge between the UK and India but also the diaspora community, Indian community around the world,” she added.

Meanwhile, the enthusiasm of the Indian diaspora for the event has been overwhelming, prompting organisers to close registrations last week as the number of attendees surpassed 65,000.

Veena Uttamchandani from the Indian diaspora said, “We have been living in Dubai for 48 years. We are very happy and excited that our PM is coming here. I just got a knee surgery but still have come here.”

Ishwar Dholakia, a member of the Indian diaspora said, “I am very proud that such a big event is happening here. PM Modi is developing India’s global relations. He has come here seven times.”

Preparations are underway for the event. People have gathered in huge numbers, eagerly waiting for the Prime Minister. Several cultural performances are taking place in the stadium ahead of the event.

Earlier, the Indian diaspora gave a grand welcome to Prime Minister Modi on his arrival at the hotel in Abu Dhabi. Chants of “Har Har Modi-Ghar Ghar Modi” and “Modi Hai Toh Mumkin Hai” resonated through the air in a vibrant atmosphere. (ANI)

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Priti Patel, Kulveer Ranger in Johnson’s honours list

Martin Reynolds, a senior civil servant and Johnson’s former principal private secretary, was given an Order of the Bath award for public service…reports Asian Lite News

British Indians Priti Patel and Kulveer Singh Ranger have been rewarded in former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s honours list, which came hours before he stepped down as an MP.

The honours list, a tradition granted to outgoing Prime Ministers, included 38 honours and seven peerages, and was approved by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak nine months after Johnson stepped down as premier.

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel was named Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire, while Ranger, former director of transport, was elevated to the Lords.

Patel, 51, served as Home Secretary under Boris Johnson beginning July 2019, and tendered her resignation from the post in September 2022, just before the appointment of Liz Truss as Prime Minister.

A day after Johnson’s resignation last week, Patel praised the leader calling him as the UK’s “most electorally successful Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher”.

“Boris Johnson has served our country and his constituency with distinction. He led the world in supporting Ukraine, got Brexit done, and was our most electorally successful Prime Minister since Margaret Thatcher. Boris is a political titan whose legacy will stand the test of time,” Patel tweeted.

Ranger was chosen as the Director for Transport Policy after Johnson won the Mayoral election in May 2008.

“It is with great pride I can confirm that I have been elevated to the House of Lords. This recognition is not just mine but I share with my family and friends, the Sikh community, and many industry colleagues and Conservative friends — all of whom I’ve had the pleasure to be supported by and stand shoulder to shoulder with over the last 25 years,” Ranger wrote in a tweet, thanking Johnson.

“I am proud of what we achieved but now look forward to continuing to champion and improve the things that I am passionate about in the years ahead,” Ranger wrote.

In 2011, Ranger became the Director for Environment and Digital London and his work resulted in a record fall in bike thefts, according to a BBC report.

Born to Sikh immigrant parents in Hammersmith in West London, Ranger is also a special adviser to the UK government on digital strategy.

He has an honours degree in architecture from University College London, and a business diploma from Kingston Business School.

The list honoured Conservative politicians Jacob Rees-Mogg and Simon Clarke with knighthoods.

Martin Reynolds, a senior civil servant and Johnson’s former principal private secretary, was given an Order of the Bath award for public service.

Reynolds had invited people to a “bring your own booze” party at the Downing Street garden when Britain was under lockdown in May 2020.

Labour Party deputy leader Angela Rayner called Johnson’s honours list a “sickening insult”.

Johnson stepped down as a Conservative MP on June 9 after claiming that he was “forced out of Parliament” over the Partygate scandal.

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Priti Patel endorses Boris in PM race  

British home secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson.(photo:instagram)

Johnson himself resigned six weeks ago after a series of scandals and mass resignations among his ministers, but is still considered popular among many Tory MPs and the wider party membership…reports Asian Lite News

Priti Patel, who served as British Home Secretary in former prime minister Boris Johnson’s Cabinet, on Saturday endorsed her ex-boss as the best-placed candidate to replace Liz Truss at 10 Downing Street.

The Indian-origin MP, who had remained conspicuously silent over her choice of Conservative Party leader in the last leadership contest between Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, said Boris Johnson had the public mandate from the 2019 general election to deliver for the Tories.

The 50-year-old politician took to Twitter to say that the former prime minister had a “proven track record” of getting the big decisions right, in an apparent attempt to override the partygate scandal of COVID lockdown law-breaking parties that critics have flagged as a major factor against a Johnson comeback.

“Boris has the mandate to deliver our elected manifesto and a proven track record getting the big decisions right. I’m backing him in the leadership contest,” she tweeted.

Her intervention comes as Johnson, 58, landed back in London from his Caribbean holiday and is widely expected to throw his hat in the ring to take on frontrunner Rishi Sunak in the race to replace Truss – who resigned earlier this week, marking the shortest tenure of a British Prime Minister at just 44 days packed with financial markets mayhem and policy U-turns.

Johnson himself resigned six weeks ago after a series of scandals and mass resignations among his ministers, but is still considered popular among many Tory MPs and the wider party membership. At least three Cabinet ministers have openly said they would back Johnson in the contest: Business Secretary Jacob Rees-Mogg, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and Levelling Up Secretary Simon Clarke. His tally of supporters now stands at around 46, compared to Sunak’s 100 – the threshold required to make it to the shortlist in time for the deadline of 2pm local time on Monday.

If only one candidate emerges by then, the UK could have its new Prime Minister in place by early next week. But if there is a contest between two shortlisted candidates, then the 170,000 Tory members will get an online vote to pick a new Tory leader by Friday.

So far, it is looking like a three-way contest with third-placed Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt launching her campaign video to attract more MPs to side and increase her tally of around 21.

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Good riddance, say MPs after Priti quits

“Priti Patel’s legacy is one of enormous cruelty towards those seeking asylum and appalling mismanagement of the worst government department,” tweeted Glasgow South MP Stewart McDonald…reports Asian Lite News

Hours after Liz Truss was voted as the UK Prime Minister to succeed Boris Johnson, Priti Patel – who held the post of Britain’s home secretary, or interior minister – announced that she will step down and continue serving the country from the “backbenches” of Witham constituency.

Critics who have criticised the former minister for overpromising and underdelivering on immigration, crime, charity and other policies in her three-year tenure, termed Patel’s exit as “good riddance”, alleging that she has been the “worst home secretary in living memory”.

A series of tweets followed after her announcement with a letter on the microblogging site.

“Priti Patel will go down as the worst Home Secretary in history. Her tenure has been plagued by allegations of bullying and spiteful policies which have made our country a pariah on the fringes of international law. Sadly, I expect more of the same from her successor,” said Liverpool Wavertree MP Paula Barker.

“Good riddance @pritipatel. You were an unspeakably cruel Home Secretary and won’t be missed by anyone with a shred of decency,” wrote Zarah Sultana, Labour Party MP for Coventry South.

“Priti Patel’s legacy is one of enormous cruelty towards those seeking asylum and appalling mismanagement of the worst government department,” tweeted Glasgow South MP Stewart McDonald.

Patel was often termed as a bully by her colleagues. According to the Independent, the morale inside the home office of the UK government was left in tatters because of Boris Johnson’s decision to keep Priti Patel as home secretary despite findings that she broke the ministerial code by bullying civil servants.

“The emotional and physical toll on staff was extreme… Staff concerns, at all levels, are not listened to or, at worse, actively penalised,” Lucy Moreton, a professional officer at the Immigration Services Union (ISU), was quoted as saying in the Independent report.

Journalist Nicola Kelly, who has worked for the UK home office in the past, wrote on Twitter reminding of how it was to work with Patel.

“A reminder of just how bad it was to work inside Priti Patel’s Home Office. Source messaged earlier: “anyone – Suella included – would be better than what we’ve had,” she said.

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Priti Patel signs landmark returns deal with Pakistan

Pakistan nationals make up the seventh largest number of foreign criminals in prisons in England and Wales totalling nearly 3% of the foreign national offender population…reports Asian Lite News

Home Secretary Priti Patel has signed a major new agreement which will return foreign criminals and immigration offenders from the UK to Pakistan.

This is the fifth returns agreement the Home Secretary has signed in 15 months delivering for the British public through the New Plan for Immigration.

Today (Wednesday 17 August) Priti Patel met with the Interior Secretary, Yousaf Naseem Khokhar and the Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK, Moazzam Ahmad Khan, to sign the reciprocal agreement.

Home Secretary Priti Patel said, “I make no apology for removing dangerous foreign criminals and immigration offenders who have no right to remain in the UK. The British public have quite rightly had enough of people abusing our laws and gaming the system so we can’t remove them. This agreement, which I am proud to have signed with our Pakistani friends, shows the New Plan for Immigration in action and the government delivering. Our new Borders Act will go further and help end the cycle of last-minute claims and appeals that can delay removals.”

Pakistan nationals make up the seventh largest number of foreign criminals in prisons in England and Wales totalling nearly 3% of the foreign national offender population.

The agreement underlines both countries’ ongoing commitment to tackling the issue of illegal migration and the significant threats it poses to both nations. The agreement also includes ongoing work to improve and expand UK-Pakistani law enforcement cooperation.

Since January 2019 the UK has removed 10,741 foreign national offenders globally (to year ending December 2021).

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India dominates UK immigration system, says Patel

“I think the Quantum Leap is a great phrase. It stretches the imagination and that’s exactly what we should be doing. The DNA of India and the UK is deeply ambitious,” she said…reports Asian Lite News

India is the leading nationality for skilled workers and students coming to the UK and therefore immigration should be dis-aggregated from the wider free trade agreement (FTA), UK Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Thursday.

 “We are going to have the highest number of Indian students come to the UK for the new semester year. India dominates our immigration system,” she said.

 “Free trade agreements, FTAs, are absolutely there for trade purposes. When it comes to people to people movement or migration, they should not necessarily be in trade agreements,” she said.

“We have introduced a points-based immigration system, a brand-new digital immigration system. That is up and running, it’s working. And, the nationality that tops the list is India. It’s a high skill, sponsored by employers to work across a range of sectors,” the home secretary elaborated.

Asked about further opening up visas with an FTA, she noted: “I think we should disaggregate this from the wider FTA. FTAs are the territory of tariffs and quotas, which does not apply to immigration. We want high skills and high wages.”

Addressing a session on the diaspora living bridge at the UK-India Week in London, the senior British-Indian Cabinet minister also referred to the BJP and Conservative Party as “sister parties” as she expressed her confidence in achieving Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “quantum leap” in bilateral relations in the lead up to an FTA later this year.

“I think the Quantum Leap is a great phrase. It stretches the imagination and that’s exactly what we should be doing. The DNA of India and the UK is deeply ambitious,” she said.

The Gujarati-origin minister referenced British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s visit to India in April, when he was in the “home state Gujarat”.

“I’m very much bilateral rather than multilateral,” Patel said, adding institutions do serve a purpose but Prime Minister Narendra Modi has driven the bilateral partnership. I’m going to be very political now, I think our two parties are sister parties and that helps. Not only are the roots strong but they are accelerating and that’s because of the people to people ties. We are rooted together, people, education, skills, economy, we are vested,” she said.

She was also asked about Johnson’s partygate troubles, having lost two important by-elections earlier this month, and her own prime ministerial ambitions to succeed him, which she dismissed.

She said: “I know my party pretty well. I have been involved with by-elections myself, where there are mid-term losses and it happens. We should not start wringing our hands and condemning ourselves. He [Johnson] will be the Prime Minister of our country and leader of the Conservative Party going into the next general election, I can guarantee that. It’s [becoming Prime Minister] not something I think about. I’m absolutely focussed on my job and my responsibility to my country and the British people.”

The UK-India Week, organised by UK-headquartered India Global Forum (IGF), opened on Monday and will conclude on Friday with UK-India Awards to celebrate achievements across different sectors in promoting bilateral ties.

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Priti Patel outlaws dangerous tunnelling protests

With a proposed new maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine, the gravity of the potential impact of tunnelling will be properly recognised for the first time…reports Asian Lite News

Dangerous tunnelling by protesters will be banned under a new law announced by the Home Secretary, as the government acts to end the serious disruption and risk to life this guerrilla protest tactic poses.

The digging of make-shift tunnels is one of the most dangerous and costly tactics deployed by groups such as Just Stop Oil and protesters against levelling up projects such as HS2. The removal operation alone following tunnelling by protesters at Small Dean in Buckinghamshire in 2021 added more than £4 million to the cost of HS2.

Filled with lethal levels of carbon monoxide and dioxide, these tunnels can become death traps, not just for those inside them and members of the public, but also for those who are required to undertake rescue operations.

An amendment to the Public Order Bill will make it a criminal offence to cause serious disruption by creating and occupying tunnels, while going equipped to create these tunnels will also be criminalised.

With a proposed new maximum sentence of three years’ imprisonment and an unlimited fine, the gravity of the potential impact of tunnelling will be properly recognised for the first time.

Home Secretary, Priti Patel, said, “This country will not be held to ransom by so-called activists unconcerned about putting the lives of others in danger. These death traps don’t just put lives at risk, they divert precious police resources away from where they are needed most. These measures will give our police the powers they need to crack down on this lawlessness and continue to make our streets safer.”

https://twitter.com/CrimeLdn/status/1534263262098882560

The current offences available are not sufficient to recognise and deal with the scale of danger and disruption caused by tunnelling. This law will empower our police and courts to take action, from arrest through to conviction, against those intent on risking lives.

Another amendment to the Bill will extend the powers to manage public assemblies to the British Transport Police and Ministry of Defence Police.

The Public Order Bill complements the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act, recently passed into law, which has increased the penalty for wilfully obstructing a highway and will make public nuisance a statutory offence.

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Priti Patel faces legal action over Ukraine visa delays

Priti Patel

Legal action is also being prepared on behalf of lone children who have been unable to gain access to foster placements set up for them in the UK because of visa delays…reports Asian Lite News

Legal action is being prepared over delays in the UK visa system for Ukrainians fleeing the war with Russia.

The process has been criticised amid cases of families being unable to travel to the UK because not all of them have received travel letters or visas.

Lawyers are now preparing a class action on behalf of hundreds of Ukrainians who applied to travel to the UK weeks ago, but whose cases have been stuck in a backlog, said an advocacy group involved in the proceedings.

Vigil for Visas said they have instructed lawyers to launch legal proceedings against the Home Office, led by Priti Patel. This follows a week-long vigil outside government offices to highlight “the incoherent, confused and chaotic Ukrainian visa backlog”.

Another participant in the legal action, Taking Action Over the Homes for Ukraine Visa Delays, said they had received evidence of up to 1,000 ‘missing visas’ from the first week of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

The campaign group said they had sent the information to the Home Office, ‘which declined to make any response’, and added that the wait to hear back on visas was putting ‘people in Ukraine and neighbouring countries at risk.’

Legal action is also being prepared on behalf of lone children who have been unable to gain access to foster placements set up for them in the UK because of visa delays.

Amanda Jones, the immigration and public law barrister preparing the class action, has previously launched a similar legal challenge on behalf of a member of Marlowe Ukraine Collective and the guests’ visas were issued within nine hours, said Vigil for Visas.

Amid widespread criticism over delays in Ukrainians reaching safety, the British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that the UK could have reacted faster in helping Ukrainian refugees.

“Could we have done it faster? Yes, perhaps we could,” said Johnson on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Tuesday.

He said that “large numbers” of those fleeing the war are now coming to Britain.

“Well, we have done a huge amount to help Ukrainian women and children in the area, but we’re now seeing large numbers come to the UK,” said Johnson.

A total of 86,100 visas have been issued as of April 27 under the Ukraine Family scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship initiative, according to government figures.

But as of April 25, only 27,100 Ukrainians had arrived in the UK, according to figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and the Home Office.

Asked why the UK is not offering visa-free travel to Ukrainians, Johnson said that in a wartime situation, some people might be “pretending” to be refugees.

“It’s important to protect the system from those who might want to abuse it.

“It’s also important to protect the women and children from coming to somewhere where they’re not going to get the welcome that we would want, so that’s why the screening and all the work we’ve done to make sure that we match up people in the right way,” he said.

Anais Crane, a case worker at Wilsons Solicitors who is representing several unaccompanied Ukrainian children, said many were close to giving up hope after waiting for more than a month for visas.

Kirsty McNeill, an executive director at Save the Children, said: “Part of [the government’s] argument for the bureaucracy and the slowness is that it is keeping people safe.

“But actually, it’s a lack of pace that is endangering children more than anything.”

Save the Children is not part of the legal action, but said it supported calls to overhaul the system.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXWO8jvZ0pc

“In response to Putin’s barbaric invasion, we launched one of the fastest and biggest visa schemes in UK history,” a UK government representative said.

“Over 86,000 visas have been issued so Ukrainians can live and work in the UK.

“The changes the Home Office has made to streamline the visa system, including simplifying the forms and boosting staff numbers, are working and we are now processing visas as quickly as they come in, enabling thousands more Ukrainians to come through our uncapped routes.”

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Terror survivors call on UK to fund post-attack support

Cox said it was vital that support was coordinated through a state-backed survivors’ hub or agency…reports Asian Lite News

A group of campaigners who have survived or been left bereaved by terrorist attacks will meet the UK’s home secretary Tuesday to call for a state-funded support scheme.

Brendan Cox, the widower of murdered MP Jo Cox and co-founder of Survivors Against Terror, will tell Priti Patel that granting terror victims minimum guarantees of support should be a key part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy.

Ahead of the meeting, he told The Guardian: “Part of our way of saying ‘f*** you’ to terrorists is to show that survivors won’t be left to stew, but will be properly supported by the state.

“Whenever a terror attack happens, ministers get up and talk about how we will look after the survivors, but in reality that isn’t happening.”

SAT will present Patel with a proposed terrorist survivors’ charter that guarantees them immediate financial support, rapid access to psychological support, and a compensation fund.

The eight-point charter also includes guaranteed legal support and a national memorial day for terrorist survivors.

The charter was drawn up in consultation with SAT’s network of 300 people caught up in terrorist incidents across Britain, including the Manchester Arena bombing, the Fishmonger’s Hall stabbings, and the London Bridge attack.

Cox said it was vital that support was coordinated through a state-backed survivors’ hub or agency.

He said: “This shouldn’t be left to the lottery of charity. The shift that we’re calling for is one where there are minimum legal rights. That needs to happen quickly, because we don’t want another generation of survivors to go through what the survivors of the Manchester attack or London Bridge attack had, which was just completely inadequate.”

He added: “There have been survivors who have contemplated suicide, and survivors who have ended up self harming because of that lack of support.”

Cox compared Britain’s approach with that of France or Belgium, saying: “In the UK terror survivors are treated like the victims of a traffic accident, but in France and Belgium and some other countries, attacks on civilians are seen as proxy attacks on the state and therefore the state has a duty to look after them.”

Even French citizens caught up in the London Bridge attack opted to use the French system because it is “more efficient and more generous.”

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously promised to consult on a survivors’ charter, and Cox said he and SAT are determined to hold him to that pledge.

“Committing to a consultation isn’t the same as committing to bringing it in, so we are going to keep campaigning until we see the details,” he said. “We need a sort of survivors and victims champion, as opposed to something that just sits within government and does what it is told.”

The Home Office told The Guardian: “We will continue to collaborate closely with Survivors Against Terror to ensure the Survivors Charter informs our review into the wider support package available to victims of terrorism and any subsequent recommendations of that review.”

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No10 blames Russia for hoax calls to UK ministers

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “The Russian state was responsible for the hoax telephone calls made to UK ministers last week…reports Asian Lite News

The Downing Street has said that Moscow was behind calls to British defence secretary and home secretary last week, The Guardian reported.

The Russian state was responsible for hoax calls to Ben Wallace and Priti Patel, pretending to be the Ukrainian Prime Minister, Downing Street has said.

In its first statement attributing blame for the video calls, the Downing Street said it believed Russian state actors were responsible, without giving more details at to who linked to the Kremlin had been identified as being behind the attempts.

It is understood that there are fears in the Whitehall that Russia could release doctored quotes of their comments for propaganda purposes. Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, was also unsuccessfully targeted, The Guardian reported.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson said: “The Russian state was responsible for the hoax telephone calls made to UK ministers last week.

  “This is standard practice for Russian information operations and disinformation is a tactic straight from the Kremlin playbook to try to distract from their illegal activities in Ukraine and the human rights abuses being committed there.”

  Defence secretary Wallace has publicly acknowledged that he had been targeted shortly after his call on Thursday in an attempt to get ahead of any attempt by Moscow to circulate footage from it.

  An investigation has been launched into how it happened and a cross-Whitehall review is looking at tightening security procedures further.

  The caller who got through to Wallace was pretending to be Ukraine Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal.

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